


School Troubles (Complete)

by Johzanne



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, Anal Fingering, Anal Play, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boarding School, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Cock Slut, Consensual Underage Sex, Dating, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Emotional Manipulation, Eren Is a Little Shit, Falling In Love, Fights, Flirting, Heartache, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Levi Is In Denial, Levi is a slut, Love Triangles, M/M, Pain, Slow Build, Slut Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Slut Shaming, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-10-20 22:30:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 71,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10672077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johzanne/pseuds/Johzanne
Summary: There are advantages to being the official rocking horse of Sina College All-Boys boarding school. Heck, Levi barely went a week without getting off. His life is good; his marks are high, his friends are nice and he often gets invited to spend holidays away with whoever didn't get to see him much during the school term.Why did it have to change? How did a bright-eyes newbie filled with determination and noble ideas end up as the reason why Levi was scribbling hearts in his notebook for the first time since middle school?





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> The goal of this story is for Eren and Levi to find each other, but before that, there is Levi x oc(s) and Levi x Farlan. Please don't let this put you off from reading this book.

“’Rise and shine, ladies! Get up, get up, get up!” Levi groaned and rolled over. A fist banged on his room door and he heard his roommate, Brandon, groan as well. He decided to sit up. “Come on, people, get a move on!” One of the seniors banged on the door again. “We’re up!” Brandon called out before covering his head with his pillow. Levi just rolled his eyes.

Being woken up by shouting seniors is just one of the privileges of being in boarding school. The true horror will start when he’s a senior next year and will have to be up before everyone else to pull their lazy asses out of bed.

He climbed out of bed and started fixing the sheets before he had the chance to give in to the temptation to go back to sleep. It was five in the fucking morning. It should be considered a miracle that he got out of bed every day. “Get up, Patch. I’m not coming back for you.” He gave his roommate’s sheet a tug. “I hate that nickname…” Brandon grumbled and Levi rolled his eyes. “Then get your ass up and go shave.” With that, Levi left to go get breakfast.

A few of his classmates seemed to be in a zombie-like state as they made it down to the cafeteria with their matching, school issued navy sleeping pants and white shirts. The pants were available in long and short for summer and winter, but Levi had lost his – probably left it in the dryer the last time he did laundry – and only had his long ones in his locker at school. It didn’t get all that hot at night, so he wasn’t too worried about it.

The morning light filtering through the dorm cafeteria windows wasn’t enough to light the large room up yet, so the bright overhead lighting had been turned on. Levi’s floor was the first one to be woken up, but already there was a queue forming at the counter.

“Hey Levi.” He turned around. “Jean.” His friend gave him a small salute as always and he answered with a small wave as the taller boy caught up to him. Jean yawned. “Can you believe we’ve been back here for three weeks already?” Jean asked as they fell into the food queue. “I’m still not used to it. All I want to do is sleep in.”

A boy walked past them on his way to a table and Levi peeked into his bowl. Looks like African Porridge, or as the cook calls it, ‘Pap’. The row slowly moved forwards.

“Where’s Farlan?” Levi asked and Jean looked around. “He’s already up. Probably in the bathroom before the rush.” Levi hummed.

His two friends, Jean ‘Horseface’ Kirstein and Farlan ‘Blondie’ Church were roommates and located a few doors down from Levi’s room that he shared with Brandon ‘Patches’ Frank. Their nicknames came from initiation when they started at the school.

Jean just wanted to go home during the first few weeks of school and it became a rolling joke to ask him ‘Why the long face?’. Then one of the prefects cracked the joke about a horse going into a bar and the bartender asking him ‘why the long face’ and the term ‘Horseface’ translated to Jean.

Farlan had had the lightest, blondest hair in the grade and got dubbed ‘Blondie’. His hair has darkened a few shades since then, but the nickname still stuck to him.

Brandon was the only newbie at school already sprouting a bit of a beard, but, much to the seniors’ amusement, it only grew in a few patches around his jaw. Hence the nickname ‘Patches’.

Learning these nicknames was easier than learning everyone’s names. There are still boys in Levi’s class that he only knows by their nicknames. Levi’s nickname was ‘Mouse’ to his great disdain. The reason behind it was that the senior he was assigned to was nicknamed ‘Mickey’ in his first year and the duo was known as ‘Mickey Mouse’. Luckily for him, it wasn’t a nickname people used much. Except for the geography teacher and Farlan when he wanted to get under Levi’s skin. In a year’s time, they will be the seniors of the school and will each be assigned a newbie to initiate and give a nickname. Time flies.

Jean and Levi each grabbed a bowl of porridge and slid over to the extras. There were things set out like apples and cereal if you weren’t in the mood for what was being served and some sugar and butter to add to your porridge. Jean snatched an apple and Levi added some sugar to his bowl before they both grabbed spoons and made their way over to their usual spot.

More boys were filtering into the cafeteria, some of the older boys already in their uniforms and some of them from younger grades that just got up. Levi did what he liked to call ‘People Gazing’ until he was finished eating. Then, he stood up with both his and Jean’s bowls while Jean started on his apple.

“Good morning.” They both looked up at Farlan, who had just arrived with his own bowl of porridge. “Sup man.” Farlan gave Jean a low-five and put his bowl down on the table. “Levi.” What a dazzling smile. He wrapped his arms around Levi’s waist and Levi’s arms went up and around Farlan’s neck, even though he was still being careful with the bowls in his hands. They hugged each other and Farlan hummed softly before letting go. Levi smiled a bit. “Are you two already finished?” Farlan asked as he slid onto the bench. “It’s not our fault you were late.” Jean answered and Farlan just shrugged.

“I have to go get dressed.” Levi announced and his two friends gave him a small bye. He carried the dirty bowls to the washing area where the plated were starting to stack up. The grade eights and nines were split into groups that made turns to do the dishes and were excused from roll call to finish cleaning up without getting into trouble.

Back in his room, Levi closed the door so that he could get dressed. Brandon’s blazer wasn’t hanging on the hook on the door anymore, indicating that he had already gotten dressed. The baboon’s bed was still unmade. He’s going to kill him if they rank bad during inspection and have to clean the showers this weekend. Levi opened his reasonably sized locker that was fitted out to be a closet and pulled out a hanger with his uniform for the day.

The uniform they were forced to wear wasn’t really anything they could complain about. It started with a normal white school shirt and black school shorts with a belt. That much wasn’t bad. Where it started getting bad was with the knee high grey socks with a red line on the part you had to fold it over. Levi pulled on his grey sweater before bending down to tie his black, polished school shoes. He stood up and popped his collar so that he could start folding his red and black striped tie.

He always made an eldredge knot, even though it had a few extra steps. In the twelfth grade, they get ties that are a solid red and have the school’s emblem on it that has to sit on a specific spot. That meant that he would have to start folding a balthus knot next year like everyone else. Once the knot was made, he tucked the tie into his sweater. Lastly, Levi got his gray blazer with the school emblem on the breast pocket from his desk chair and pulled it over his shoulders.

He looked at himself in the mirror while buttoning the two buttons around his waist. He never did outgrow his blazer. He filled it in a bit since he had gotten it three years ago, but he never went up a size. The result was that it technically hung a bit lower than it was meant to, not that it was anything to be splitting hairs over. The one thing about their uniforms nobody liked was the black ascot caps they had to wear. They had to wear them for roll call, assembly and whenever they walked around in their uniform off of school grounds. Levi carried his cap around in the left pocket of his blazer so that he didn’t forget it. God forbid they lose it.

Levi brushed his hair out a bit and thought about how it was too short for his liking, but it was better to start the term with your hair a bit shorter than you want it and grow into it during the term than have it grow too long and be sent to Mister Clark and his Parkinson's disease to have your hair cut. Levi folded up his sleepwear and put it on the top shelf in his locker before closing it. He picked up his messenger bag from next to the door and walked out of the room.

The next stop was the bathroom and Levi could see the line curving around the corner before the bathroom. With a sigh, he joined the queue to brush his teeth. “The big game is after school today.” Some guy said to his friend. Levi listened while leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes.

“Yeah, but Grays doesn’t stand a chance. Especially not with their quarterback out for the season.” There was a sports game almost every Friday of the first term and all the different schools in the same league took turns competing against each other. Grays Boys College has been the rival of Levi’s school, Sina College All-Boys boarding school, since Grays was opened in 1873. Luckily Sina has some of the best sport grounds in the country and most schools drove their players out to Sina’s school grounds to compete which sure as hell beats packing the whole boarding school into buses and driving to hell knows what school. Because, according to the principal, the whole school has to be present to support the players in action.

As one could imagine, dozens of insults have been thought out over the years and are still thrown between schools whenever they have the chance. The two top insults various schools throw at Sina College are ‘Run home to Mommy’ and ‘At Sina for a day, then you’re gay, gay, gay!’. All of the other schools clearly found it amusing that it was a woman that had started the all-boys school. Every boarding school got bashed with the gay insult, but the boys joke about being gay in the dorms so often that none of them bat an eye at the suggestion anymore.

There is a fair amount of gays in Sina College, like in all schools, but Levi has never been belittled or insulted for swinging that way and he was thankful for it. His mom knew about his sexuality and was terrified of sending Levi to boarding school. It was a family tradition on Levi’s dad’s side of the family and he wanted to go. Besides, the school makes it very clear that no form of homophobia would be tolerated from pupils or parents. All in all, life was good.

Levi slowly moved forwards in the bathroom queue and decided to go pee while he waited for a sink to open up. When one did, he got his toothbrush container out of his messenger bag and brushed his teeth.

While he watched his lips and teeth whiten from the toothpaste foaming as he brushed, Levi thought about his sex life. He had never been in an official relationship, but wasn’t lacking in physical experience. In the contrary, he first had sex in the ninth grade and had his first kiss at twelve. He just had a lot of hookups. None of his hookups ever developed into anything more than casual sex, especially since most of his hookups were with straight guys. Apparently it wasn’t gay until you ‘took it in the ass’. If that was the definition, he was definitely gay. Very gay. He rinsed his mouth and returned his toothbrush container to his messenger bag. He fished his watch out of his blazer pocket and tied it around his wrist. 6h15. Roll call wasn’t for another thirty minutes.

When he arrived outside, Farlan was already sitting on the steps at the front of the building and watching boys from the next-door dorms walking past on their way to school. He was already wearing his cap and looked pretty cute in it. “I hear it is a big day today.” Levi said without any excitement while pulling on his cap and Farlan let out a small laugh. “I’m playing for the fourth team. As a reserve.” Levi moved to sit down next to him. “You’ll be carrying the team to victory.” Farlan laughed again just as Jean appeared from between the boys leaving the dorms. “What’s so funny?” He asked as he joined them. “My football skills.” Farlan answered while standing up and dusting himself off. “At least you’re on a team this year.” Levi let out a chortle and Farlan flipped Jean off before offering Levi a hand. He gladly accepted it and walked to the school between his two taller friends that had started talking about football.

Every morning started off with roll call to make sure everyone was out of bed. If you weren’t, your roommate has to do laps until you finally decide to drag yourself to class. It was a very real threat that had the boys making sure their roommates got up. The grade elevens gathered in front of the math classes which was fortunately right in the middle of the school. Levi remembered his grade eight days when they had to gather on the hockey field and then make it to their first class without being late. Levi’s name was one of the first names to be called out, so after he answered with a loudly spoken ‘Present!’, he tuned out and waited for them to finish reading through all 376 names. The grade eights that applied for this year were already over 400 and the school had to turn around twenty boys away because 400 is the maximum capacity per grade. Hopefully Levi won’t be one of the grade twelves that’s responsible for two newbies next year.

“Okay, now listen up.” Everyone looked up at the teacher standing in front of the group. “You all know that we’re playing against Grays this afternoon.” The group cheered, especially the boys playing later. “The grade twelves are in charge of making sure everyone behaves and I don’t want to hear a single complaint about the grade eleven group. On top of that, I’m expecting all of you to keep this place spotless. And I don’t mean ‘Boss the younger grades around’, I mean pick up any trash you see – if it’s yours or not – and slap the kid you see dropping something anywhere that is not a trashcan.” The whole group answered simultaneously with a loud “Yes sir!” The teacher smiled. “That’s what I like to hear! When Sina sees a challenge!” The teacher called out the start of one of the school battle cries expectantly and the boys answered with enthusiasm. Like one man, they called back: “We fight, we fight, we fight!” There were a few cheers and the boys were dismissed.

Grade eleven had practically just started, but they were already working at a hell of a pace. It felt as if the teachers were rushing through the work as fast as they could and when they were not teaching, they were lecturing the boys on the importance of grade twelve and university.

Class after class, Levi just got more and more homework and it felt like the teachers were trying to make sure that they didn’t have any free time over the weekends to fool around with one another. The homework was harder and the projects were bigger, but yet again, so were the dicks and as long as Levi’s grades stayed where they were, he wouldn’t mind going around the block a few times with his classmates, especially not before big sport events when testosterone levels were high and everyone was looking for a place to let it out.

Up until grade nine, a large amount of Levi’s hookups was prone to blushing whenever they did something, but ever since grade ten kicked off, they have been more confident which Levi thought was a huge turn-on. There were a few small groups that avoided him for his willingness to suck whatever was presented to him, but those were the sheltered types of boys Levi wouldn’t have wanted to be associated with in any ways. He had two great friends that didn’t mind and he barely went a day without getting off; there was nothing to complain about. The word ‘Slut’ meant nothing to him. His morals might be a bit loose compared to what others thought, but he believed that he was still a half decent person, even with a dick in his hands.

The school system only gave them one break in the middle of the day where all the boys flooded back to the dorms to dish up lunch. They usually got good food for lunch and once a month they got pizza. On this Friday, they got wraps filled with chicken salad. The break was an hour and fifteen minutes long which meant that the older grades had enough time to go back for seconds before the warning bell rung at the end of break. Levi and Farlan had decided to make themselves comfortable outside on the bit of grass next to the stairs while Jean went back for seconds.

“Big day for you today.” Farlan commented while Levi ate the last half of his wrap. Levi rolled his eyes and finished chewing. “It’s not that bad. I know I usually see Pete afterwards, but nothing is set in stone.” Farlan hummed. “Don’t forget about Peacock. He’s usually looking for you just before a game.” Levi shrugged. “I’ll be around. But we don’t have to be on the pavilions until two if that’s what you were hinting at.” Farlan laughed a soft and airy laugh. “Am I always that easy to read?” He said while laying back on the grass to look up at the clear sky. The corner of Levi’s lip turned up a bit. “Always.” Farlan popped a mint in his mouth and Levi continued eating his wrap.

Jean returned a bit later. “Hey Blondie, did you remember my Science book? I heard we’re doing an open book test in class later.” Farlan pushed up onto his elbows. “Uhm, no, I left it on the desk.” Jean just looked at him. “I hope you’re fucking with me, man. I need that book.” Farlan sat up and got up to his feet. “I’ll go get it.” Levi decided to remind him of a crucial detail. “The rooms are locked until after school.” Jean looked at Levi. “Do you have your book?” Levi shook his head. “I don’t have science on a Friday.” Jean groaned. “Maybe if I go ask Cindy, she would unlock it.” Jean’s voice was thick with laughter when he answered Farlan. “And you have the flirting skills to convince the eighty-something year old kitchen lady that is one hundred percent immune to boarding school boy charm to unlock the rooms for you?” Farlan looked at Levi with a bit of a smirk and winked at him. “I think it’s worth a shot.” With that, the blonde turned to head back inside to test his luck in the ten minutes left of break, but Levi stopped him. “If you’re going to the rooms, go put my sweater back.” Levi tossed Farlan the item he had been carrying around since third period. Farlan caught it and left.

Jean leaned back on his elbow and ate his second wrap while watching a few guys play touch-rugby on the nearby field. Levi bent his knees and hooked his arms around them as he did the same thing. He closed his eyes and thought about what he was going to do over the weekend when he noticed someone sitting down next to him. He opened his eyes to see Jeremy, a grade nine that’s on his usual bus when they drive back to school after the holidays, doing the same thing he was. Jean looked in their direction just long enough to recognize that it wasn’t Farlan before he continued eating.

“You’re Levi, yeah?” Levi hummed and moved his arms behind him so that he could lean back on them. Jeremy put his hand on Levi’s thigh, just above his knee. A frown settled on Levi’s brow. “I hear you’re pretty smart… Skipping class wouldn’t be totally bad for you.” The warning bell rung and Jeremy looked at Levi hopefully. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing with your hand, but you better move it before I snap your wrist.” The brunette immediately pulled his hand away. “B-But I thought-.” Levi glared at Jeremy which shut him up. “You thought wrong.” The ninth grader stood up and mumbled a sorry before heading back to his friends.

Levi looked over at Jean who was smiling smugly. “What?” Jean sat up. “That kid had balls.” Levi rolled his eyes. “Kid probably wanted to seem cool for his friends.” Jean got up as well and looked towards the dorm doors. “You didn’t have a problem with older guys when you were in the ninth grade.” They walked slowly so that Farlan could catch up when he comes back. “Yeah, but then I was the younger one. Being the older one is kind of gross. I’d feel like I’m contaminating the kid.” Jean frowned a bit. “Then what about Timothy?” Levi was quiet for a moment. “I had a thing for Timothy, it was different.” Levi tucked his hands into his pockets. He never did get close to Timothy. “And what if that kid has something for you?” Levi huffed. “Then he’s going to have to try a lot harder than that.” Jean shrugged. “The girl I’m going for back at home is in tenth grade, but I bet it’s different with a girl, you know?” They heard Farlan calling them and stopped for him to catch up. “I got it!” He ran up to them and shoved the book into Jean’s waiting hands. “Nice man!” They high-fived and the three of them continued back to class.

They went their separate ways when they reached the school building. Levi and Jean had English Literature together after break, but he had left his messenger bag next to his geography class. “Levi.” He looked up at Ace who was approaching him. He got his nickname from all the card tricks he tried to do in grade eight in hopes of looking ‘cool’. He did become popular at the end thanks to his physical talent regarding athletics and football. Thinking back to the scrawny boy that used to be in his accounting class, nobody would have guessed that he would fill out his form so well. “Hey.” He slung his bag over his shoulder. “What do you have now?” Ace asked while adjusting his bag on his shoulder. “Lit. You?” Ace shrugged. “Nothing important.” They started walking in the general direction of the English classes. “Are you looking for a reason to skip class?” Levi asked and by the way Ace smiled, he knew that he was right. “Something like that.” They walked past the stairs Levi would have had to take to get to his class. “What did you have in mind?” Ace let out a small sigh as he seemed to consider his options. “Best bet would probably be a blow.” Levi hummed in agreement and smiled a bit. Ace mirrored the small upturn of Levi’s lips and opened the bathroom door for him. What a gentleman. Levi knew that Ace had a girlfriend back at home. Not that something like that had ever seemed to bother any of his hookups.

Ace chose the furthest stall and closed the door once they were both in it. Levi slid his messenger bag to the clean floor – the school did not tolerate messy bathrooms – and took off his blazer before he turned around to be hugged into Ace’s waiting arms. Levi closed his eyes and moved his arms up to rest them loosely around Ace’s neck while Ace’s strong hands slid down to give his ass a firm squeeze. Levi let out a sigh against his neck and started leaving open mouthed kisses along his warm skin. Ace continued squeezing with one hand and slid the other up Levi’s back. Levi could feel the warmth of his hand seeping through the fabric of his shirt and flexed his back a bit. It was nice, just being touched like that. Levi knew that he had a thing for being manhandled, being manipulated in someone else’s hands. Farlan had joked that it was because he was so small. He didn’t believe that his body size had anything to do with it, but he would admit that it made it easier.

It felt like it was too soon when Ace had finished feeling him up and retracted his hands to unbuckle his silver buckled belt. Levi slid his hands down Ace’s sculpted chest and sunk down to his knees. He recalled once when Ace had asked him to wear panties. He shot the idea down obviously, but it’s fun to know that detail about him. Ace pushed his underwear out of the way and loosely held his hand around his erection. A hand around a cock like that simply looked good. Levi had no complaints about putting his mouth around it either. There was nothing fancy about the way Levi sucked the head into his mouth and swirled his tongue around it, because a period was only so long and they wouldn’t want to make it obvious why they were away. There was skill, but no flare when Levi sunk down on as much of his shaft as he could.

Certain guys reacted differently to different things, but a few general tricks seemed to please everyone. Lick under the crown, hollow your cheeks, gag a bit. The sloppier, the better. Ace was trembling and making a few soft grunts in no time. “Okay…” Levi opened his eyes to look up and slowly pulled back until only the tip was still in his mouth. Ace had his thumb hooked around the base of his shaft and was cupping his balls with the rest of his fingers. Levi hummed in understanding at the expression he was making and grazed his teeth over that sensitive spot under the crown just hard enough that Ace couldn’t hold back anymore. Levi sunk down on him again when he started spilling into his mouth so that most of the bitter liquid could go down his throat instead of spreading over his tongue. He swallowed against the tip, making Ace shudder before he pulled off. Ace panted a bit while tucking himself back into his pants and Levi stood up from the floor. He rubbed his hands over his knees and could feel how the pattern of small tiles on the floor had sunk into his skin. It would go away soon and didn’t hurt.

Ace turned his attention back to Levi. “Do you know what I like about you?” Levi stepped closer when Ace put his hands on his hips. “You’re so… pliable.” He turned them so that Levi was pushed against the stall wall. “You think I’m flexible?” Ace hummed and moved Levi up against the wall. His legs quickly wrapped around Ace and his hands grabbed at his shoulders. “I’ve been thinking about that long weekend we spent together in the dorms.” Ahh, that. It was the one time that they actually had sex. Ace had pinned him up against the shower wall and moved his legs over his shoulders before driving into him. That considered, he probably was quite flexible. Now Ace was holding him up against the wall and sliding his hand into his pants. Levi gasped when he felt him firmly gripping his shaft. “I bet you can do it in a lot of different ways.” He started pumping Levi and Levi closed his eyes. “Just imagine how I could bend you…” Levi tiled his head back against the stall wall and panted. That was a hot thing to imagine.

He wanted to be bent and folded in different ways. Ace had a strong and fast hand that knew exactly what it was doing and it wasn’t long until they had to grab for toilet paper so that Levi didn’t come in his underwear. Levi was slowly returned to his feet and the dirty toilet paper was flushed before the stall door was unlocked. “I’ll see you again.” Ace said after he was sure that Levi had found himself again. Levi nodded. “I’ll be sure to stretch beforehand.” He commented and Ace laughed softly as he left. He went back to whatever class he was skipping, but Levi decided to wait the period out in the bathroom. He picked up his bag and blazer again and went to one of the sinks. The pulled his toothbrush container from the zip bag he used to store it in and brushed his teeth. He didn’t like the taste of his mouth after giving head, regardless of how used to the taste he was and it wasn’t any effort to carry his toothbrush around with him, so he kept it in his messenger bag. It made late mornings easier as well, because then he didn’t have to rush back to his room and put it away.

After having brushed his teeth, Levi tapped his toothbrush dry on the edge of the sink and packed it away. He moved back to one of the further stalls so that nobody would see him when they walk into the bathroom and left the door ajar so that nobody suspected that anyone was in there. Listening to music or taking a nap would have been ideal, but Levi didn’t grab his phone this morning and sitting on the lid of a toilet was nowhere near comfortable enough for a nap, so he settled for starting with the shit ton of homework he didn’t want to be stuck with over the weekend. By the time the bell rang, he had finished his math homework and his third language sheet. The only thing he had left was his biology summaries that would take three hours at least – serves him right for falling behind a week before the teacher wanted to check their books. There was also an essay about Macbeth or something, but that could wait. He gathered his things and slowly walked to his next period.

The rest of the day seemed to drag by at an agonizing pace, but it luckily didn’t give him any more homework. The sport guys jogged to the locker rooms to get dressed once the final bell rang and then went down to the various fields to warm up before their opponents showed up. Selected groups were   
called out to help set up welcoming signs and whatnot so that everything was perfect for the afternoon’s events.

Jean was one of the boys that had to help set up, so Farlan and Levi had Farlan’s room all to themselves. It was always convenient when Jean was busy, because Levi could never be sure when Patches would be showing up at their room again. It wasn’t unusual for the two friends to go into Farlan’s room together, but it wasn’t that what they were doing was a secret either. Farlan was Levi’s oldest hookup and since they were such close friends, some guys felt that they had to ask him permission before trying anything on Levi. As far as Levi knew, Farlan had never turned anyone down for him. In the contrary; he usually gave Levi a heads-up.

This afternoon was like any other when they hooked up. It was always natural with Farlan, it never felt forced or planned. It always just happened. They had been talking on one of the beds about the ridiculous room inspection system they were living under and it smoothly blended into them making out and feeling each other up. Levi’s shirt had been untucked to allow Farlan’s hand to smooth over his chest. Farlan’s shirt was already off of him and laying somewhere nearby. His lips tasted like fresh mint. Levi was addicted to it and wished to know what mints Farlan sucked on to taste that way. He must have just had one because it felt as if Farlan was painting his mouth with faint traces of that minty flavor.

Levi heard the button of Farlan’s pants being popped and the zipper being pulled down before the blonde pulled away from the kiss. He pulled his hard shaft from his pants and they both looked down at it. The head was slightly bigger at one side which made it look like it had been attached skew. It was unique to Farlan and Levi kind of liked that. “We haven’t… In a few days…” Levi said while getting his own pants open. Farlan simply chuckled. “I don’t think we have time for that, little Mouse.” Levi huffed. Farlan chuckled again. “I have a better idea.” Levi looked up at him. “I want to feel yours up against mine.” He released his shaft in favor of wrapping his hand around Levi’s and then moved his hips until their shafts were close enough for him to hold both of them. Levi let out a sigh when Farlan gave them a squeeze. “Good?” Levi nodded. “We haven’t done this – ““Since opening ceremony.” Farlan finished for him.

They had arranged to meet in the bathroom so that they could sit out on the long and boring ceremony the school insisted they start every year with, but the teachers had been one step ahead of them and had locked the bathroom doors beforehand. They settled for the small hall that lead to the bathroom and pushed their shafts together in Farlan’s hand while finishing as fast as they could to avoid the risk of discovery. The rush was exciting, but doing it in Farlan’s room was much more intimate and they could stretch it out a bit. This time Farlan lead Levi’s hand to their shafts and told him to hold on as they both thrust into his hold. The rigid heat of Farlan’s shaft grinding against his own had him moaning and the feel of the heads of their shafts slipping past each other on every odd thrust or having Farlan’s catch his under the flank as they both thrust up was incredible.

Their releases mixed on Levi’s chest and they cleaned up before getting dressed again. Levi looked at his watch. “We should get going. We have to be there in fifteen minutes.” Farlan hummed in agreement and stood up. “I probably won’t see you again until Monday.” He commented while picking up his weekend bag. “Yeah… but you can always stay this weekend.” Levi was careful not to sound hopeful. Farlan snorted. “I’m not staying here a day more than I have to.” They headed out of the room. “Sucks to be you. But you live crazy far away.” Levi hummed. “I go home for Christmas if my dad is there. My mom said she would rather fly up here and get a hotel room for us here than spend the holidays in that huge place alone.” They were quiet for a while. “When was the last time your dad was home for your birthday?” Levi looked at his shoes, but kept talking like none of this was a big deal. “Grade nine. Maybe he shows up this year. We’ll see.” Farlan looked at him, but didn’t comment. He couldn’t relate to much that was going on in Levi’s family life because he had always had the perfect family. He had an older brother and apparently he still joins them on their annual family holiday to the Bahamas. Levi always felt out of place when he went home with Farlan over the holidays.

They arrived just in time to get good seats before Farlan was called to go warm up with his team. Levi sat alone and waited for Jean to show up while the other boys found themselves good places to sit. Jean showed up and they chatted about nonsense while watching the games being played. They did have to cheer between games to keep spirits high, but it wasn’t all that bad, even if they have been there for a few hours. “Hey Peacock, I hope you kick some Grays ass!” Levi looked up and sure enough Peacock was making his way up to him. His name was actually Jacques Peacock and since it was an odd surname, it was a big joke in grade eight to say that he got it from his pea-sized cock. All the grades call him Peacock, but it was only the grade elevens that knew why.

Said man now stood a step down from Levi and smiled. “Mind a walk to the locker rooms with me?” Levi shook his head and stood up to follow him down to the locker room. Jacques was already wearing his first team jersey that was red with his name and number in black. All the other teams had black jerseys with their names in red. Levi was familiar with the locker room they were going to, because he always used it after track and field practice. After running around the field for an hour and a half, a shower was exactly what he needed and this locker room was the closest one. He has a locker in there as well with shower supplies, a towel, deodorant and a fresh set of clothes. He used to keep a few condoms in there, but the risk of a teacher finding them at school was too great. Changing to bare backing wasn’t a big decision for him.

“Are you watching the first team play?” Peacock asked once he had checked that no one else was in the locker room. All the teams were supposed to be warming up or talking to their coaches right now, so the chance that someone would come and disturb them was slim. Levi answered with a shrug. “Probably. The school usually makes a big deal about the first team’s game.” Peacock breathed out a soft laugh as he guided them over to the shower area where a wall and a line of lockers would be between them and the door. “You never were too enthusiastic about sports.” Levi shrugged again and watched the other peel his shirt off. “There’s something in it for everyone.” He followed Peacock’s example and started stripping off his uniform.

A few minutes later, Peacock’s hand was tangled in Levi’s sweat-dampened hair and pulling his head back while he thrust into him from behind. He pulled harder and Levi’s spine formed an even deeper curve. “What are you?” Peacock asked a little out of breath. “A fuckhole…” He was probably the guy with the biggest thing for dirty talk in the school. “You’re worthless. Say it.” Levi gasped for the air needed to speak, his vision already blurry. “I-I’m a worthless fuckhole…” He couldn’t even remember all the crazy things he had said to Peacock while he was being roughly pounded into by him. He never did it any other way than roughly. “Do you –“ A grunt. He was going to come soon. He thrust harder, uncaring if he hit Levi’s prostate or not. Levi moaned louder. “Do you deserve this dick?” Levi shook his head the best he could. The squelching of his asshole echoed through the locker room, but neither of them really cared. “Then what should you say?” Levi responded almost immediately. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, ah -! Thank you for giving me your dick!” his knees and palms were starting to get sore from the hard tile floor they were being pushed into, but the growing ache seems to compliment the intense pleasure he was feeling. He splattered his release onto the floor and let out a few last weak moans as Peacock kept going. There had been times that Levi was thrashing from the overwhelming pleasure when someone kept going after he came, but as he slumped against the cool tile floor, he simply didn’t have the energy. Peacock luckily didn’t take much longer to reach his high and soon enough Levi was humming as the warmth of his release filled him.

And that was the end of it. Peacock pulled out, got up and cleaned himself up with one of the paper sheets dispensed next to the sinks. Levi stayed on the floor and caught his breath before pushing himself up onto his knees. “You should clean up.” Peacock said while offering Levi a hand. “Mitch said he’d want a round too.” Levi took his hand and chuckled. “I doubt it. The last time I heard that, he never showed up.” Peacock chuckled. “I knew it.” Levi felt some of his release running down his thigh. “So, uh… You okay?” Levi nodded. “Get out of here.” He smiled a bit. “Go kick some Grays ass.” Jacques grinned. “Thanks. See you Monday.” Levi gave a wave as he jogged out of the locker room.

Levi walked to one of the toilet stalls to clean the worst out of him. It kind of felt like taking a runny dump, but after that it was mostly gone. He walked naked through the empty locker room towards his locker and got out his towel and shower supplies. While he cleaned himself off, he could hear cheering from outside. The first team must have started playing. He finished up and put on his uniform again. After this game, they get to go back to the dorms. Thank God. He slowly walked back to where Jean was holding his spot. Climbing the tall steps up the pavilion was a bit of a pain, because big steps after getting it that hard was never a good idea. But he was back to his spot in no time and relaxed while the players played on the field down below. It was an intense game. Peacock and one of Grays’ players were out with concussions after running into each other. Ultimately Sina won, which gave them ultimate bragging rights until next year when they play again.

Afterwards, Levi and Jean walked back to the dorms at a slow pace while all the other boys scurried around to get on the buses going home on time. Farlan was one of these boys and they saw him heading towards the buses with a group of guys getting on the same bus. Jean also went home over the weekends, but he lived close enough for his parents to come pick him up, so there was no rush. Levi moved a few of his things to Jean’s room while he packed. Patches was also staying in the dorm this weekend and Levi wasn’t sharing a room with him when there was one that was going to be empty. He walked down to the door with Jean, because he couldn’t do much until dinner was being served. Just before he went back in, Pete called him. “Hey, I didn’t get around to you today.” The usually quiet grade twelve smelled of sweat and energy drinks. It’s probably better he didn’t get around to him. They were both quiet as he walked a bit closer. Pete looked around before leaning in to kiss him. Levi just closed his eyes and kissed back. “Monday?” Levi nodded. “In the art class, they never lock it.” Levi nodded again and then Pete ran off to his bus.

Levi stood outside where the air was cool until he heard the dinner bell. He headed back inside to have dinner and finish off his day. What a hell of a day. Grays was the last big match the school had for a while, meaning that from Monday – after seeing Pete – things would start to settle down again and the rest of the year will pass the same way the previous one did. Levi wasn’t expecting any change.


	2. New Arrival

"Come on, ladies, we don't have all day!" Levi cursed the senior shouting right outside the door in his head and cuddled up closer to the warm chest in front of him. The arm slung over his hip wrapped around his waist and hugged him close until a fist banged on the door. "Get your ass out of bed, Blondie!" The body in front of Levi groaned and then sat up. "I'm up, you fucker!" Jean mumbled something at the other side of the room about every morning starting like this. "Not until this door is open, you're not." The senior countered before moving on to the next door and shouting at the boys in there.  
  
Farlan fell back on the bed and slung his arm over his face. "Mondays suck ass." Levi rubbed his eyes before opening them. "Too bad you don't." Farlan laughed softly and elbowed him. "I knew you were secretly a romantic." He joked and they both laughed a bit. Jean finally decided to pipe up. "What the actual fuck could be worth laughing at at five in the morning on a godforsaken Monday morning?" Levi and Farlan laughed a bit again and Jean raised his head from the pillow just enough to glare at the two idiots he calls his friends.   
  
"I need a shower." Farlan proclaimed before peeling himself off of the bed and climbing over Levi to stand up. Levi pointedly laid still. "I need, what, fifteen minutes to get ready. I do not need to get up at five." Jean sat up and stared stupidly in Levi's general direction. "Someone should go tell that to the dumbass that made the rules." Levi groaned. "I'd still need to stand up for that." Farlan laughed and tossed his towel at Levi. "Lazy ass. I'll catch you guys later." He pulled the towel off of Levi's head and headed towards the door. "Don't forget to go wake patches up!"   
  
Levi finally pushed himself up from the bed and looked at Jean who ran his hand through his hair, making it stand in funny spikes. "You need a mirror." Jean frowned. "I need more sleep, asshole." Levi rolled his eyes and stood up. "Nobody said you had to stay up with us last night." He said in his defense and Jean just hummed. Levi stretched and rubbed at his eyes again. He picked up his bag before giving Jean a wave and leaving the room to go back to his own. After spending the weekend in Jean and Farlan's room, he hung out with them when they came back with the buses. It wasn't unusual for him to sleep over in their room on a Sunday, because they usually hung out until after lights out and then the last thing you want to do is get caught out in the halls.   
  
Patches was still in bed when Levi got back to his room. He grabbed onto the corner of the blanket and yanked on it, pulling the covers halfway off of his roommate. "I'm back." Levi said lamely and Patches glared at him with red, tired eyes. "Hadn't noticed." Levi huffed and dropped his stuff next to his bed. He will probably pack it out after school. He then left to go get breakfast and intentionally left the door open. "Oh come on." Patches groaned and a little later he heard the door slam shut. At least he was up now.  
  
Downstairs there was already a long line of boys waiting to get food. Levi luckily got to skip ahead a bit because Jean was already in the line about ten boys ahead. "What are we having?" Levi asked and Jean looked to the front of the line to see what was being dished up. "Scrambled eggs and sausages. The usual Monday food." Levi hummed. He was never really hungry in the mornings, but good food helped him eat enough so that he wasn't starving by the time they got lunch. There wasn't much he didn't eat, but sometimes the cook whips up something really strange for breakfast.  
  
Farlan joined them late again and finished eating on his own while Levi and Jean left to get dressed. It was the same uniform every day. Since Levi was one of the boys that didn't get to go home every weekend, he had to do his own washing at school. There were mashing machines in a room around the back that worked like the ones at a laundromat and Levi had a tag he had to push into the slot every time he washed a load.   
  
To get a card, he had to go to the financial office and pay in the money he wants on the card. The person working there would then give you a tag. It was a piece of plastic with a bar-code on it, actually, and Levi doesn't think the school deserves all the praise it gets for being 'innovative'. It did allow him to do his washing and drying for much less than he would have paid if he had to take his clothes to a laundromat in town, so he wasn't complaining much.   
  
Chores aside, Levi was dragging his feet and taking much longer than usual. He wasn't all that worried about being on time, because they didn't do roll call on a Monday. They did lock the hall doors at 06h45 sharp, which is when they usually should be at roll call, and being caught outside the hall then meant detention, but Levi wasn't going to assembly and therefore wasn't worried. He was meeting Pete in the art class and there was a route around the back of school where he wouldn't be caught.  
  
"Hey, ready to go?" Farlan asked, leaning into Levi's room with one hand on the door frame holding him up. Boys were rushing to get to the school in the hallway behind him. Levi was just finishing his tie. "No, I'm skipping today." He picked up his bag so that he could go brush his teeth in the now empty bathroom. "Oh." Farlan stood up straight. "Do you want me to join?" Levi chuckled. "Not unless you want to get to know Pete better." Farlan's face scrunched up and Levi wondered which part it was he didn't like; suggesting a three-way or him hooking up with Pete. "I'll see you after school, then?" Levi nodded and Farlan winked at him before turning to fall into the thinning flow of boys.  
  
Levi went to the bathroom and did his usual morning routine; pee and brush his teeth. He then walked out and headed in the direction of the school, but, unlike the rest of the school, he took a right that lead him to a path around the back of the school and ended up at the large art class. The door couldn't lock because the lock had been broken and Mister Simons wasn't prepared to admit to the headmaster that he broke something. Again. It was a poorly kept secret that worked in Levi's favor.   
  
Pete was standing against the wall with an unlit cigarette in his hand. "Hey." Levi walked up to Pete and Pete smiled that famous 'lady killer' smile he used all too often. He waited until Levi was close enough for him to lean in to kiss him, pausing a centimeter away from his lips to make him feel like a fool for anticipating a kiss before closing the distance. It's a stupid trick and Levi felt stupid every time it worked on him. They kissed like that for a while with nothing but their lips touching until Pete pulled back. The soft sound of their lips separating sounded kind of cute and Levi wondered why he still thought about things like that.  
  
"You haven't smoked one yet." Levi commented while they walked to the class. Pete opened the door for him and Levi almost rolled his eyes. He didn't see the point of acting all proper if the decency never lasted longer than an orgasm. "I know you don't like them." Levi put his bag down next to the teacher's desk. "You remembered." Pete hummed. "It's no fun making out if you're trying your best to avoid tasting it." They moved the party to the back of the class where the works of art standing around blocked the windows and Levi sat on one of the large work tables with scabs of dried paint and accidental pencil scribbles on it.   
  
"Here." Pete tossed two condoms down next to Levi after putting the cigarette away. "You think we have the time for that?" Levi asked and Pete shook his head. "It's better than coming in your pants before the first period." Levi had to agree with that. Pete moved closer to stand between Levi's legs and put his hands on Levi's hips to pull him a bit closer to the edge of the table. The tables were higher than usual so that it was both comfortable to stand or sit and work on an artwork. Another happy accident in Levi's books, because he was hip to hip with Pete when he was sitting on one of the tables.   
  
Levi looked up a bit to face Pete just as the slightly older boy leaned in to kiss him. Levi closed his eyes and returned the warm kiss. He reached up to put his arms around Pete's neck, but Pete moved them back down before pushing Levi's blazer off of his shoulders. Levi helped to get the item off before reaching out to pull at Pete's. Both blazers were then dropped somewhere to the side with the sound of silver buttons hitting wood. Pete's hand then moved up to grab hold of Levi's jaw when they barely separated an inch, his thumb and finger pressing into Levi's cheeks so that his mouth opened. Levi gasped and Pete claimed his mouth again, taking advantage of his already open lips to roll his tongue in.   
  
It was an aggressive way to heat up a kiss; just the right amount of force to make things fun. Levi moaned softly at how suddenly he was caught in a deep kiss. Pete chuckled against his lips and pushed at Levi's tongue with his own. Levi fisted his hands in the front of Pete's shirt and pushed his tongue against the other one in his mouth. This was what he enjoyed about Pete. There was force in everything; a battle, a challenge. It fit in perfectly with the bad boy vibe he had when Levi was crushing on him in grade nine and it worked even better now that he had perfected his technique.  
  
Pete moved his hands to hook them under Levi's knees and pull up, the action making Levi fall back onto the table and catch himself on his palms by his sides. Pete pulled Levi closer to him by his knees and Levi moaned against his lips again when Pete ground their hips together. He then pulled away from Levi's lips and left him panting on the table while he reached for a condom. He tossed it onto Levi's chest before opening up his pants. Levi followed his lead and pulled his shaft out so that he could roll the condom on. He watched Pete give himself a few pumps before rolling on the plastic.   
  
They have never had sex per say, but they have done pretty much everything else there was to do up to that point. Apparently you don't fuck someone else while you have a girlfriend. Levi thought you don't even look at someone else when you're in a relationship, but hey, who was he to judge.   
  
Levi fumbled a bit with the condom and decided to lay flat on his back and try to feel his way through sliding it on instead of trying to half sit, half lay down to try and see what he was doing. He heard Pete zip up his pants again and did the same without really wondering why they were putting their dicks away. Pete leaned over Levi, pressing his hips firmly into Levi. "Haah..." Pete looked down at him with a little smirk, the way his dark bangs framed his face making him look even sexier. He hooked a hand under Levi's knee again and pulled his leg up his side before starting to roll his hips.   
  
Dry humping like they were doing was a way of getting off that Levi thought was severely underrated. He loved the idea of being pushed down or being pushed up against something while someone with a cock as hard as his own ruts against him. It was great fun for both parties and as satisfying as it was teasing. Pete would definitely know what he's doing when it comes to full-blown sex and experiencing that without actually doing it was amazing. It was a way of showing off that wasn't as big of a commitment like sex was thought to be. And it's something you could do almost anywhere.   
  
"Yeah, ah, oh fuck." Levi slotted their hips together better and brought his hand to his mouth to mute his moans. Pete chuckled again with his jaw hanging slack around soft pants and gasps. "You're fucking blushing." Levi moaned again, the roll of Pete's hips now slow and deliberate. "I would have sworn that you've never done this if I didn't know any better, slut." Levi whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut and choosing not to answer. "That's it, just take it. That's all sluts are good for." Pete moved faster, his hips now snapping up into Levi's at an increasing pace that made it difficult for the raven to try and keep up.  
  
The one thing that sucked about dry humping was the end. If your partner comes before you do, it's harder to find something to help you finish than it would have been if you had been naked. At least condoms took the mess out of it. Pete came first with a loud sigh and rolled his hips much slower against Levi's as he rode it out. Levi whined at the sudden drop in tempo and tried doing something about it, but Pete hissed and pulled his hips away when Levi tried grinding against his now too sensitive shaft.  
  
"Please, Pete... come on." Levi tugged on Pete's shirt and groaned when Pete pressed the heel of his palm against the tented front of Levi's uniform pants. "You beg too easily." Pete commented before nipping at Levi's ear. Levi grabbed at his forearm and squeezed it in his hold as Pete started rubbing his palm into his groin. Pete's hand pressed harder and moved faster and Levi moaned. He could feel his blush darkening and Pete's tongue flick above his collar. A shiver pulled through the length of him when he reached the point of no return and released with a few weak twitches of his hips.   
  
Pete pulled off of him and opened up his pants to carefully remove the filled condom. Levi pushed himself up into a sitting position and did the same. His dick twitched a few times when he touched it, the frayed end of his orgasm still tickling his nerves.   
  
Soiled condoms were thrown away and hidden underneath art related trash, before the two boys looked around to make sure they don't leave anything behind that they shouldn't. "That was fun." Pete put his hands on Levi's waist from behind and kissed Levi's cheek. "I'll come find you when I have some time open again." Levi turned his head and Pete kissed him briefly before leaving the art class. Levi picked up his bag and left the classroom. He closed the door behind him and headed towards the bathroom to clean up a bit better before heading to class.  
  
When assembly was dismissed, the grade elevens were requested to stay until everyone has left. Once the rest of the school had cleared out, the two teachers in charge of the group told all of them to move closer. As expected, the large group of boys made three times the noise necessary while moving their chairs closer to the stage. The teacher held up his hand and waited for the group to quiet down. "Is everyone here?" They all looked around to make sure their friends were there. "Where's Levi?" Someone called out. A few boys started saying "Mouse, Mouse, Mouse" and most of the group joined in until someone else said "What about Farlan?" A chorus of "Oooooo" came from the boys until Farlan said "Not it! I'm here."   
  
A few more boys suggested other names, some of them getting a laugh from the group, and the teacher started regretting even asking. "That's enough. We wanted the grade elevens to hang back because we wanted to introduce a new student to the group." This caught everyone's attention. "Eren, come up here." The brunette sitting at the back stood up, moved to the front and climbed onto the stage. "Do you want to introduce yourself?" Eren nodded and took a step forwards.   
  
"Hey." Some of the boys laughed and Eren smiled. "The name's Eren, I live in Southrand –" Boys living in the same area cheered. "And I come from Rands High." The school he came from was well known by the Sina boys. Rands high was the biggest state school in the area and usually came just after Sina on the athletics field. Rands high had an all blue uniform that was often teased. Eren wanted to continue, but a chorus of "Bluuuuues" came from the group. The teacher used two of his fingers to whistle and silence the group. "I do track and field, tennis and hockey." Various boys that play the sports Eren mentioned cheered, all of them thrilled to have fresh meat in the team. "I'm going to stay on the school grounds. Apparently I'm bunking with Gecko?" A few guys said things like "Nice Gecko" and the guy raised his hand so that Eren could see who he was and Eren nodded in acknowledgement. "Oh, and I beat the system. I already swing that way before having spent a day here." The whole group laughed and then began to cheer.   
  
The teacher put his hand on Eren's shoulder. "Well done, Eren. With that attitude, you're going to fit in great here." Eren smiled politely. "Thank you, sir." The group simmered down again before the teacher spoke up. "I'm looking for someone to help Eren here find his way around. Someone that wants to show him around and make sure he finds his feet here. Stand up if you want to." A bunch of boys stood up. "Sit back down if you don't have – Eren, what are your subjects?" Eren spoke up again. "Physics, Business and IT." The combination of subjects eliminated a great deal of the boys.   
  
Farlan leaned over to Jean. "Why don't you do it? He's going to be in all of your classes." Jean raised an eyebrow. "You mean you want me to take care of him as well as your sorry ass?" Farlan snorted. Eren looked at the group of boys and the teacher pointed at a random one. "You, Eren's your responsibility for the next week. Don't lose him." Eren laughed a bit and climbed off of the stage to go sit with the guy he was now assigned to. All of them were dismissed.  
  
"Hey man!" The guy raised his hand for a high five that Eren gave him. "I'm Connie. We need to get you a nickname!" Eren started walking out with Connie. "Yeah, where does that come from?" Connie guided him to the first class. "Initiation. Our seniors gave them to us." Eren nodded. "Then what's yours?" Connie looked at him with a deadpan expression. "Satellite." He put his fingers behind his ears and pushed them forwards. "Cause I look like one." They both laughed.  
  
"Who was the Mouse guy they were going on about earlier?" Connie took his cap off and put it in his pocket. "Oh, that's Levi. He's –" Connie stopped mid-sentence and grinned. "Hey, you said you swing that way, yeah?" Eren nodded. "Then I dare you to ask Levi out." Eren frowned at the odd dare.  "Why, is he a homophobe or something?" Connie laughed a bit. "No, he's all homo. A pillow biter, actually. You two would be cute together, so how about it?" Eren was a bit unsure about it. "Would we get along?" They arrived at their class on the second story. "Dude, totally. Jean says he's a softie once you get to know him." Connie lead Eren to the balcony where you could look down at the math classes. He spotted Farlan and looked around, because Levi would usually be close by. He spotted Levi a moment later, heading towards Farlan and pointed at him. "That one there talking to the blonde. Do it at break and I'll do your laundry this weekend."  
  
Eren looked down at the petite raven. He definitely was something to look at. "Deal."  
  
Levi was sure he hadn't arrived at class early because students from other grades were already walking into their classes. He figured the grade was held back and hid out in the bathroom until he saw a guy in his grade come in. He then walked out to the math classes to look for his two friends. He spotted Jean first, the tall bastard, and then Farlan. He swerved around a few people to get to them. "Hey, what took so long?" Farlan was the one that answered him. "There's a new kid. Came over from Randies." Levi frowned. "A new kid?" Jean nodded. "We have all the same subjects and he also plays hockey, so I'll be seeing his face a lot." Farlan added that he did track and field just like Levi. "You will probably bump into him soon. He's bunking in our house with Gecko, so maybe you'll meet him in the showers." Farlan and Jean both wiggled their eyebrows at him.   
  
Levi frowned at his strange friends. "What?" The two of them looked at each other with stupid smiles before looking back at Levi. "He's gay." Farlan said. "So gay." Jean added. "And not afraid to admit it." Levi found it creepy how they added to each other's sentences like that. "He sounds interesting, I'll give him that." Levi said. "But I haven't even seen him yet, so stop giving me that look." Jean and Farlan started laughing. "See you later." The group separated to get to their classes.   
  
The geography teacher wasn't there yet, so the guys in the class were talking about the new kid while they waited. Levi listened to his classmates talking about what sports the new kid does and whether or not he would be good at other sports until one of them spotted him. "Hey, Squeak, you missed some fun this morning." Levi turned to look at the guy sitting with his feet on his desk like he owned the place. "Even though I'm sure you had a lot more fun wherever you were." Levi huffed. "I heard there's fresh meat." It was the term always used for newcomers. Not that anyone knew where it started. "Yeah, and I bet he's real curious about why one guy wasn't there this morning." This guy was always an asshole. 'Asshole' was his nickname until a teacher said that was unacceptable. Levi doesn't even know what it was changed to. "What's his name?" The guy smirked. "That eager to know what name you will be moaning?"  
  
Prince Charming came to Levi's rescue. "Cut him some slack, D, we're all very thankful for Levi." Paul, nicknamed 'Prince Charming' because he was most likely to be voted school representative in his grade twelve year, put his hand on Levi's shoulder. "New kid is called Eren Yeager. We were in the same primary school. He's a nice guy. Rich family too." Their Santa lookalike teacher finally showed up and they all sat down in their seats. He was a cool teacher, but also the oldest one at school. Whenever he sat really still while they were doing assignments in class, Levi was worried that the old geyser had kicked the bucket. What made him cool was his oddness. He had five different braids he did with his beard, one for each day of the school week. More often than not he would use the end of his beard to wipe marker off of the board when he made a mistake.   
  
Unique teachers aside, Levi kept hearing about the new kid through the day. So far he had gathered that the kid was a tall brunette that liked sports and guys. He kept an eye out for someone that fit the description, but gave up by the time it was lunch. Scrambled eggs were only so filling, so Levi was starving by the time he was standing in the line to get food. He didn't even look for Jean or Farlan, but he figured he would find them on their usual spot on the grass later.   
  
A hand touched Levi's arm and he looked up to meet green eyes. Oh, green eyes. It was a trait rare enough that Levi appreciated it whenever he stumbled upon it. "Hey, how exactly does this line work?" And then Levi realized he was looking at the new kid. "The grades dish up in descending order." Levi stepped a bit to the side. "So if you stand here, you're in the right place." Eren smiled. "Thanks. I lost Connie when we came in here." Levi recognized the name, but wasn't entirely sure who Eren was talking about. "Was he assigned to you?" Eren nodded and so did Levi. They slowly moved forwards in the line. "I hear everyone here has nicknames. Connie said his is Satellite." Levi did recognize the nickname. He was in his grade eight class. "Do you already have one?" If Eren didn't have one, he might get to give him one. "Yeah, the teachers have started calling me Greenie. What's yours?" Levi looked up at the brunette. "Mouse. Squeaks if you ask Captain Ass-hat over there. But my name is Levi." Eren smiled and extended his hand. "I'm Eren." Levi smiled a bit as well and shook Eren's hand.   
  
The two boys continued to talk about the funny nicknames there are until they dished up their chicken salad. Levi lead Eren outside to where Farlan already was, but Eren didn't walk all the way with him. He stopped them once they got outside. "I need to go look for Connie, but, uh..." Levi regarded him patiently, taking a bite of his salad while Eren tried finding the correct words to string together. "You're pretty cool, so how about I get to know you a bit better?" Levi looked at him without saying anything for a bit longer and Eren started getting nervous. "You want to get to know me better?" Levi asked and Eren nodded. He looked at his watch. "We can do that now." Eren looked at him a little puzzled. "Is there really time for that?" Levi nodded. "Yeah Greenie, I'll show you." He turned to keep walking and Eren followed.   
  
Levi lead Eren to the alley between the two houses. It wasn't too secluded because students walked past it, but it was the closest and best place to go. He put his food bowl down on the floor next to him and Eren did the same without saying anything. Levi combed his fingers through his hair to push it back a bit and leaned back against the wall. Eren was still standing a few steps away where they had put down their food and Levi frowned a bit.  
  
"Come here." Levi straightened himself up to take his blazer off and put it down next to him on the floor while Eren moved closer. He leaned back against the wall again and looked at Eren standing a modest distance from him. He checked him out. It was clear that Eren enjoyed sports and must have been playing since primary school to be so fully shaped by it. He looked like he would be a great swimmer; Levi should probably suggest Eren tries out for the swim team so that he actually has someone to look at when it was his turn to sit next to the pool with a first aid kit.  
  
Eren stood still while Levi checked him out. He wasn't doing it subtly, but yet again, Levi had no intention of hiding his interest. When Eren didn't do anything, Levi reached out and grabbed onto the two sides of Eren's blazer to pull him closer. Eren frowned a bit, but stepped closer. "Uhm, Levi, this wasn't what I had in mind." Now that he was close enough, Levi reached up to wrap his arms around Eren's neck and pull him down to his height. "We can't do much else out here." Levi leaned in closer as he spoke and Eren moved his head to the side. Levi didn't think much of it and leaned in to kiss below Eren's ear. Eren's hands came up and took hold of Levi's arms by his elbows to pull his arms from around his neck. "No, I don't want to do this." Eren stepped back and Levi dropped his arms to his side.   
  
"Then what do you want to do?" Levi asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Eren smiled a bit. "I was trying to ask you on a date." Levi was quiet for a moment. If that was all Eren was asking for, He felt kind of stupid for acting the way he did. He suddenly didn't want to be with the new kid anymore. "A date?" Eren nodded. "Yeah. We can't leave the school during the week, so maybe this weekend? I don't really know what there is to do in the town, but it would still be fun to walk around together." Levi looked at him with his lips pursed together. "Or hey, whatever you want to do."   
  
Instead of saying anything, Levi pushed himself up from the wall and picked up his blazer. After picking it up and dusting it off, he said: "Tough luck, Eren. I don't do dates." He picked up his salad and Eren moved to stand in front of him. "Why not?" Levi glared at him. "Not that it is any of your business, but I prefer hookups over lockups."   
  
"Dating isn't like that." Eren tried again. "Give me a chance to prove it. Just one date." Levi walked past him. "No." Eren turned around. "What do you have to lose? Please?" Levi wanted to get away from Eren as soon as possible. He did not want to admit that he had just embarrassed himself and wanted to escape the source of his embarrassment. "You are going to have to do a lot better than 'Please' if you want me to go on a date with you." Levi decided that he should rather have kept his mouth shut when he saw how Eren perked up. "So you're saying there is a way to get you to go on a date with me?" Levi glared at the brunette that seemed all too happy to put words in his mouth. "Well, yeah." Eren smiled brightly. "Whatever it is, I'll find it, then."  
  
Levi left before Eren tried asking him anything else. He headed towards Farlan and Jean, but stopped when someone called him. He turned to look in the direction he heard his name from and saw Connie walking up to him. "Were you with Eren just now?" Levi stabbed his salad with the fork it came with, looking at it instead of Connie. "Yeah... He, I think he's looking for you." Connie looked around and spotted Eren. "What did you guys do?" Levi looked in the opposite direction. "Nothing." He started to walk to his friends, but Connie stopped him again. "Did he ask you out?" Levi whipped his head up to look at Connie. "Wha –" Connie cut him off. "I dared him to. So did he do it or not?" That made Levi more pissed off at Eren than himself. "Yeah, he did. And I shot his sorry ass down." He moved to start walking again, but stopped. "And don't make stupid dares about me."   
  
Levi finally reached his friends and sat down next to them to start eating. "Hey man, what's up?" Jean asked. Jean and Farlan were both watching Levi attack his salad. "The new kid is a dickhead, that's what." He took a bite of his food as if that would teach the salad a lesson for witnessing his last two encounters. "Eren? He seems pretty cool." Levi glared at Farlan who raised his hands and said: "Sorry, sorry, what do I know. What did he do?" Levi took another angry bite of his salad before answering him. "Satellite has him running around being an annoying little shit." Jean shrugged. "Yeah, Connie wants him to be 'initiated', but we're not really allowed to do anything to him since he's not an eighth grader." Levi huffed and Farlan laughed softly. "Perk up, Levi. Maybe he's not that bad. You know how first impressions suck." Levi attacked his salad further until they had to take their bowls back.   
  
The last period couldn't start soon enough. The teacher was at some meeting a few towns over which meant that they had the period off. They were free to do what they wanted; they only had to stay in their seats in case a teacher decided to check up on them. Levi had skipped the last lit period with Ace, but he had already caught up the work the previous night after Jean arrived back at the school and they were waiting for Farlan. His seat was at the very back of the class right next to Jean. While the rest of the class was messing around, the two friends made themselves comfortable and copied each other's homework for the next day.  
  
According to Jean, Eren wasn't in all of his classes because Eren took math core and he had math lit. Levi had core as well, so Eren was in his physics class. They wrote a quiz in physics the second period after assembly, so Levi didn't have the opportunity to see Eren at all. The subjects they had together were math, physics and lit, meaning Eren was going to show up in the class he was in now.   
  
Levi had hoped to simply ignore the brunette, but the other boys in the class seemed to have a different plan. Eren was late for the class because Connie didn't have lit and couldn't take him to the class. Connie wasn't all too sure where the class was himself, so he gave Eren the wrong directions. The group that considered themselves the 'popular group' got Eren to sit down with them at the front of the class and asked him anything they could come up with.  
  
Most of the questions were either basic or boring and Levi didn't really care about what league Eren played tennis in. Jean watched the commotion at the front of the class while Levi copied Jean's physics notes. He had a bad habit of misplacing his own and after what a disaster that quiz was, he thought it would be better to get them again.   
  
"What did he do at lunch that pissed you off so much?" Jean asked after a while. "He asked me out." Levi answered. "I thought he was asking for a favor, but he backed off when I tried making a move on him." Levi didn't speak too loud. With Eren being the new item of interest, he didn't really want that information to get out. "Ouch." Jean said. "That's not fun. And weird. Who asks someone out just like that?" Levi shrugged. "It was a dare." Jean looked at Levi who pretended not to notice his sad expression. Ever since Jean caught on that there was some messy emotional stuff going on between his two friends, he has been careful around the topic of emotions with Levi. Jean knew that neither of them would ever tell him everything, so he was cautious about topics that seemed to pluck on exposed nerves. Being asked out seemed to be one of those nerves.   
  
"I hope that didn't happen after you said yes." Jean commented. "No, I told him I wasn't interested, but he was very determined to get me to say yes when I left." Jean frowned. "You think he's going to ask you again?" Levi hummed and sat back in his chair to look at the brunette still being questioned in the front of the class. "I wonder if I should tell Farlan." Levi thought out loud and Jean thought about how to answer. "What would happen if you told him?" Levi looked at his hand and at how he spun his pen. "He'd probably laugh. As long as I said no, he wouldn't think it's a big deal." Jean hummed and Levi continued. "But maybe he could get Eren off of my case." Jean considered Levi's suggestion. "Yeah, but some of the other guys might get weird if they get the idea that you two are something." Levi sighed softly. "Because we aren't" Levi made sure to say. "Yeah." Jean wondered if saying that made things better or worse.   
  
After a short moment of silence, Jean suggested: "I think you should just leave it. If Eren makes a big deal out of it, Blondie will find out on his own eventually and do something about it." Levi nodded. "If he does do something or asks me about it, I'll just tell him I didn't think it was a big deal. Not that someone taking a dare too far is a big deal. It's just stupid."    
  
The two of them continued to talk about things that happened during the day. Levi could have sworn he saw Eren looking at him a few times. When the class ended, Eren was dragged out by one of the tennis players, presumably to see if he makes the cut to be on the school team. Levi and Jean packed their things and slowly walked back to the dorms. Neither of them were big on sports. Levi did do his running, but it was a solo sport and not nearly as hyped as team sports. Jean, on the other hand, had started going to the school gym and occasionally asked Levi to join.  
  
Most of their homework was done because they had an off period, so they sat on Jean's bed and talked about new games coming out in the next month while Farlan spent more time whining about his homework than actually doing it. When Farlan finished his homework, he joined them on the bed and sat with his arm around Levi. While Levi wasn't looking, Farlan looked at Jean and jerked his head in the direction of the door. Jean nodded.   
  
Levi looked up from Jean's phone and held it so that his two friends could see the game he was trying to find. He couldn't remember the name, so it took him a moment to find it online. Jean recognized the game. "Oh hey, I have that. It was so cheap on the last Steam sale. I bought the bundle so I have all three of them." Levi turned to look better at Jean. "Does it really have all the stuff everyone is going on about?" Jean nodded. "Oh yeah, the storyline was amazing and the graphics were even better. Overall, it was totally worth buying."   
  
Jean saw Farlan giving him a look from behind Levi. "I'll bring my laptop next week so that you can play it." He looked at his phone while Levi told him not to forget to do that. "I want to go to the gym." He said after seeing that they still had about an hour left before dinner. "The football teams should be cleared out of there by now, right?" Farlan nodded. "Only the first team gets to use the gym on a Monday and they finished back at five." Jean got off of the bed and grabbed his gym bag. "Catch you guys later." They both greeted him before he closed the door behind him.  
  
"I missed you this weekend." Farlan said close to Levi's ear. Levi let out a soft sigh. Farlan put his other arm around Levi and pulled him into his lap. "What did you miss?" Levi asked once he was comfortably straddling Farlan. "You. This." Farlan moved his hands to Levi's hips and stroked the skin he could reach with his thumbs. Levi didn't want Farlan to talk, so he leaned in and kissed him. The kiss quickly deepened itself and Levi softly moaned into it.  
  
Farlan kissed him until he was hot and bothered before he broke the kiss. Levi's eyes opened only halfway so that he could look at Farlan. Said blonde pulled his hand out from under Levi's shirt and reached up to wipe a drop of saliva from the side of Levi's lip. "What about it..." Levi frowned a bit and Farlan continued. "Blow me?" Levi hummed and leaned in to kiss Farlan one more time before sliding off of the bed and onto the floor. Farlan scooted a bit closer so that Levi's head was between his knees.   
  
Levi waited for Farlan to pull his shaft out for him before starting to stroke him. It felt a bit strange having been turned down. He has been trying not to think about it, but since people usually came to him, his advances had never really been rejected. Even if his advances were more than what his partners had hoped for, it had never been unwelcome. Worst part about it all was probably what Eren saw him as now.   
  
It was not that Eren was truly given a false impression of Levi's roll in the grade, but it was different with him. The grade got to know him for who he was during initiation before his bad habits came out. Eren did not get to know him much and even though he still wanted to, Levi doubted that it was still for the same reason. Eren would have been a cool friend to have, they did get along well for the while they were hanging out together.   
  
"What's distracting you?" Levi looked up at Farlan and moved his hand faster. He was tempted to say he was thinking about Eren, about someone other than him, and remind him that he too isn't only interested in him. Spit the same salt in his face he always rubbed in his wounds. "Nothing, I..." Levi looked down at the shaft in his hand. "I'm not feeling it today." He removed his hand and Farlan's hand replaced it. "Is something wrong?" Farlan asked while slowly stroking himself. Levi stood up. He wants to be more than he looks like. "No, you finish up. I have some homework I should probably get to." Levi picked up his bag. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow or something." Farlan didn't say anything else and Levi closed the door behind him.   
  
The walk back to his room was short, but he took a detour to the bathroom to wash his hands. A small part of him hoped Eren would try asking him out a few more times for the excitement in it. He stands by what he said to Eren, dating makes things more complicated, but even if they don't date, he was sure Eren wouldn't have allowed him to leave the way Farlan did. Eren wouldn't have believed him when he said nothing was wrong.  
  
He was just being bitter. He didn't know Eren; he could be even worse than Farlan. His gloomy mood wasn't the new kid's fault either, he simply tripped over a wire Levi didn't even know about himself. He splashed water on his face before he left the bathroom.   
  
Patches was laying on his bed with some book he was studying when Levi reached his room. "Hey." Levi dropped his bag and moved to fall onto his bed, but stopped when he saw something on it. "What's this, the inspection report?" Levi picked the piece of paper up before falling onto his back. "Nope." Patches flipped the page of his book. "Greenie dropped it off while you weren't here." Levi frowned and dropped the folded paper onto the floor.  
  
"Not going to read it?" Levi made himself comfortable, fully intent on ignoring both his roommate and the piece of paper, but a few moments later he leaned over the edge of the bed to pick it up and unfold it.  
  
 _'Levi_  
 _Writing letters used to be the number one form of 'courting'. Maybe you are more traditional?_  
 _Even if you are a fan of the 20th century, I am a fan of ice cream that became popular in the 21st century._  
 _How about it? Rumor has it there is an amazing ice cream sundae shop a short walk from the school._  
 _I hope you write back_  
 _Eren'_  
  
Levi stared at Eren's short letter on the big white sheet of paper. It was such a stupid letter. He should have his head examined about looking forwards to telling Jean about it. Levi got up and put the letter in his locker. "What was it?" Patches asked. Levi thought for a second. "A stupid dare." Patches hummed. "New kid has guts. I bet he would be willing to do some crazy stuff if you dare him." Levi plopped onto his bed again. "Yeah."


	3. Asking

Second Attempt:   
  
Levi woke up with a loud knock to the door. He rolled out of bed and dragged himself down to the cafeteria. He wasn’t in the mood to stand in the line for whatever was being dished up, so he skipped the line and got himself three slices of toast – butter, jam and peanut butter – from the extras table. Jean joined him a while later with his bowl of hot oats.   
  
“Can I join you at the gym sometime?” Levi asked and Jean smiled. “Always.” Levi nodded and bit into the piece of toast with peanut butter. “Let me know when you want to go so that we don’t piss of Blondie.” Levi frowned. “Why would he be pissed?” Jean looked at him like he was an idiot. “What do you guys usually do when I’m working out?” Levi blinked a few times. “Oh. Right. Does he tell you to go?” Jean shrugged. “Sometimes, but it actually got me into the habit of going, so I guess I can’t complain.”   
  
The raven checked the line for Farlan. It would still be a while before he joins them. “Eren asked me out again.” Jean looked up at him. “Really?” Levi nodded. “He dropped a letter off at my room. It was short and shit, but yeah.” Jean chuckled softly. “What did it say?” Levi picked up his last piece of toast. “Something about how people wrote letters a century ago, but this century is better because it has ice cream. He asked me to go to Scoops with him.” Jean frowned and smiled at the same time. Levi thought it made him look rather constipated. “He’s original, I’ll give him that. What are you going to say?” Levi collected his plates and looked up to see Farlan dishing up. “No. And since he wants to write so bad, I’ll write it on him.” Jean laughed softly. “Have fun with that.” The two greeted each other and Levi left to go drop his plate.   
  
Farlan stopped him when they passed each other. “Morning.” Levi greeted him back and they looked at each other for a moment. “What was that yesterday?” Levi frowned a bit. “I said it was nothing, I just wasn’t in the mood.” He was slightly pissed that Farlan brought it up and made it sound like he did something wrong. Farlan frowned right back at him. “You weren’t acting like you usually do since lunch.” Levi was even more pissed at the suggestion. “Now you’re just being a dick, Farlan. I didn’t want to, okay?” Farlan backed up, always the innocent victim. “Okay, okay. Only wanted to know if you were alright.”   
  
Now Levi felt like the dick. Farlan was just worried, he just expressed it in an odd way. And Levi interpreted it a little wrong. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I’m fine, I was just pissed at Satellite and tired, you know. Not a good mix.” Farlan smiled a bit and put his hand on Levi’s elbow as a tender gesture. “Want me to do anything about it?” Levi shook his head. “He was being childish, there’s nothing you can do about that.” Farlan hummed. “I’ll see you later.” He raised his bowl to bring Levi’s attention to it before they went their separate ways.   
  
When Levi opened his locker to get his uniform out, the letter fell out of it. Levi folded it in half again and put it in the shoe box he kept smaller things in such as his earphones and house keys. Things he shouldn’t lose. It wasn’t that the letter was important, but you only get so many hand written letters these days, so each one received is one worth keeping.   
  
Levi spotted Eren for the first time at roll call when the brunette’s name was called out. He walked over to Eren while digging a pen out of his pocket. Eren smiled when he saw Levi nearing him, clearly seeing it as a good sign that Levi was approaching him, but Levi had other plans. With the pen now in his hand, he grabbed Eren’s wrist, pushed his sleeve up and wrote ‘Still no’ up his arm in blue ink. Levi’s handwriting was noticeably messier than usual since writing on soft skin was much harder than writing on paper, but that didn’t matter as long as he got his message across.   
  
Third Attempt:   
  
Their second period was English lit. As always, Levi walked to the back of the class to have a seat next to Jean. This time Levi did catch Eren looking back at him a few times and he couldn’t help but wonder what he was planning. Eren was smiling when they walked out of the class.   
  
“Do you have class with Eren now?” Levi asked and his friend nodded. “We have business. Probably going to sit and write down the teacher’s notes in our books the whole period again.” Levi hummed. “Sounds better than physics.” Jean smiled a bit. “See you at break.” Levi smiled as well. “Yeah, cheers.”   
  
Levi saw Eren a few more times before lunch and was sure he had done something, because the look he gave him was as if he was expecting some sort of reaction from him. He decided against walking up to the brunette and asking him what it was. If it was another letter or something similar, finding it somewhere when he wasn’t expecting it would be more fun than knowing what’s coming. He just hoped Eren doesn’t plan on doing something big and public.   
  
When lunch rolled by, Jean only increased his suspicion that something was up. “Do you have your phone with you?” Jean asked him. “No, it’s in my room.” He thought for a second; Jean knew he never really used his phone. “Why?” Jean clearly tried to suppress a smile. “No reason. You should just check on it sometime.” Levi frowned and watched Jean take a bite of the homemade hot dogs they got for lunch. He wasn’t going to get any information out of him.   
  
“I’ll check after school.” Levi usually didn’t use his phone because he spent most of his time with the people he would have been texting. His mom used to give him the occasional call, but they found it easier to message each other every now and again. He got along with his mom, so it was not that there was any reason behind their minimal communication; it just worked better.   
  
The more anxious Levi got to check on is phone, the slower time seemed to pass. Eren had stopped giving him looks when they were together in math class and for a brief moment Levi worried that Eren had given up already. He reminded himself that he was being silly and continued trying to work out an advance trig equation before the teacher moved on.   
  
Levi and Farlan had health and society together, a class all the boys were obliged to take. They never did much work besides the occasional state issued educational video about safe sex or social issues. Farlan sat with him at one of the large tables for four. Levi sat at the end of the table and two of Farlan’s other friends sat on the other side of Farlan. The four of them would goof off together and joke about whatever was shown on the videos played for them, but Levi never spoke to them outside of class. Farlan would occasionally hang out with them at break, but that was about it.   
  
“Jean is going to the gym today. He said he’s going to be there for an hour or two.” Farlan had leaned in closer to Levi so that only he heard him. Levi nodded. “Yeah, I’m going with him.” Farlan frowned a bit. “Why?” Levi shrugged. “I should start getting in shape for the next season. Better to start now than work my ass off during the holiday.” Farlan sat back. “Oh.” He was quiet for a while. “Will you be going with him every time from now on?” Levi shook his head. For a brief moment he considered nodding. Farlan didn’t say anything else.   
  
Levi remembered his phone when he put on something to go work out in. He turned on his phone and waited for messages to come through while he finished changing. He grabbed his device and an empty water bottle and checked his messages on his way to the bathroom to fill his bottle under one of the taps. A few notifications from various social media platforms popped up, but Levi ignored all that didn’t come from messaging apps because he only really checked them over the holidays when he actually had something new to put up.   
  
There were a few messages from his mom to check up on him and a few from friends that decided to forward something funny to him, but the latest one was from Jean of all people. He turned on a tap and stuck his bottle in under the stream while he read the text.   
  
‘Maybe you’re more modern than what I thought? Jean said texting wasn’t your style, but I convinced him that it was worth a shot. So how about it? I heard that there was a game place too if getting ice cream isn’t exactly your thing. Gecko said it’s nice and we could go check it out together this weekend. I hope I hear from you soon! :)’   
  
The next message read: ‘Obviously not from Jean’ Levi chuckled softly and read the first message again. He got about halfway before he felt water flowing over his hand. He pulled the bottle out from under the open tap and turned it off. With his phone slid into his pocket, Levi closed the bottle and walked to Jean’s room where they had arranged to meet up.   
  
“You asshole.” Levi greeted Jean who started laughing. “You’re helping the enemy.” Jean only laughed more. “So he’s the enemy now? After two days?” Levi smiled a bit. “Enemy or mild inconvenience, you are still a traitor.” Farlan popped up behind Jean. “What now?” Jean stepped out of the room to stand next to Levi. “He found out Ace was coming with us. As if I would only let him embarrass himself in front of me.” Farlan laughed a bit. “Nice one.” They greeted and Farlan closed the door as the other two walked down the hall.   
  
“Ace is coming with us?” Levi asked and Jean shook his head. “But he’s usually there after school.” Levi nodded. “Do you have your phone with you?” He asked once they walked out of the dorms and Jean nodded. “And I have Eren’s number in case you replied to me.” Levi smiled when Jean handed him his phone. “Thanks.” He looked for Eren in Jean’s contacts and started typing him a message.   
  
‘Sorry, my mommy told me not to talk to pretty boy strangers online.   
Obviously not from Jean.’   
  
Levi was just about to hand Jean’s phone back to him when it vibrated in his hand.   
  
‘What about pretty boy strangers in person?’   
  
Levi smiled a bit at the screen and Jean smiled next to him.   
  
‘My mommy said nothing about them.’   
  
‘Perfect.’   
  
Levi gave the phone back to Jean and flipped him off for wiggling his eyebrows at him. “I said no.” Jean smiled more. “Yeah, but you’re giving him hope.” Levi scoffed. “He will grow tired of it soon enough. I’m just dragging out a bit.” Jean raised an eyebrow. “You’re feeding the fire.” Levi looked at him. “No I’m not. There is no fire, no flame, no nothing.” Levi saw Jean laughing at him and realized he was messing with him. “Oh fuck you.”   
  
Fourth Attempt:   
  
“I am starving.” Farlan complained as the three of them walked towards the dorm at lunch. “You decided to sleep in this morning.” Jean countered and Farlan looked at him as if all world hunger was Jean’s fault. “I swear I slept in for five minutes. Why didn’t you get me anything?” He bumped Jean with his shoulder. Jean bumped him back. “You mean like you got me lunch when I had to write a quiz at break?” Farlan sighed in defeat. “We’re all assholes. No use in arguing about it.”   
  
Levi chuckled softly. “You two are assholes.” They both looked at Levi. “So are you.” They said in unison and Levi shook his head. “You are like the emperor of Assholeville.” Jean said. “An asshole by asshole standards.” Farlan added. “Fuck you two, I’m royalty in Perfect city central.” Levi threw back at them with a smile. Jean and Farlan looked at each other. “Sounds like something the King of Assholes would say.” Jean said and Farlan nodded exaggeratedly. “Definitely. Only the biggest asshole would say that.” Levi shook his head with a smile. “Fine, I take it back. We’re all equal assholes.” The three of them laughed.   
  
The food line was long, but since they were grade elevens, they got to skip in near the front. “Next year we get to eat first.” Jean reminded them. “The worst part about being grade eight was probably that the good stuff was all out by the time you got to the front.” Levi and Farlan nodded. “I can’t even remember how many times I ended up eating from the extras table after standing in a line all of the lunch period.” Farlan said as they picked up their plates. “I don’t miss those days.” Levi said as the lunch worker dished up food into his plate.   
  
“Do you guys remember that gunk we had to eat at initiation?” Jean asked and both of his friends pulled sour faces. “I can almost still taste it if I just think about it.” Farlan said and then looked down at his plate. “And my lunch looked so good, fuck you very much.” Jean shrugged. “Not my fault you have a weak stomach.” Levi rolled his eyes at the two idiots. They walked to their usual spot on the grass to find Eren sitting there.   
  
Levi slowed down when he saw him and turned his head to glare at Jean. “Did you invite him?” Jean shook his head. “He’s here all on his own.” Farlan looked at Eren. “His buddy probably ditched him. Maybe now you two could get to know each other.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Levi before speeding up to go sit down next to Eren.   
  
“Hey.” He sat down and Eren looked at him. “Eren, right?” The brunette nodded and extended his hand. Farlan took his hand and shook it. “I’m Farlan.” Eren smiled and pulled his hand back. “You’re not in any of my classes, right?” Eren asked and Farlan nodded. Levi sat down on the other side of Eren. The brunette turned to look at him with a fabulous smile. “Hey Levi!” Jean joined them as well. “Hey man, where’s Connie?” Eren gestured back to the dorm. “Still getting food. I thought I might get to know Levi better while I wait for him.”   
  
Farlan’s eyes widened behind Eren and he looked at Jean. “Trying again today?” Levi asked and Eren smiled. “I’m trying a different approach.” Farlan mouthed ‘He is hitting on Levi’ to Jean and Jean shrugged. “Do you guys have any classes together?” Farlan asked and Eren turned back to him. “Yeah, we have physics, math and lit together.” Farlan nodded before Levi added: “But we don’t sit together in any of them.”   
  
The four of them ate their lunch together and even though most of Eren’s attention was directed at Levi, the group had a great time chatting together about other students and teachers. Levi, Jean and Farlan told Eren about a lot of different crazy things they have done at school and Eren responded by telling them about all the shit he got into at his old school.   
  
“What do you have now?” Farlan asked when they heard the bell. Eren pulled out the printed timetable the school had given him. “I have… math class with Levi.” He looked back at the raven. “We had to do that second part of 3.5 as well, right?” Levi nodded as he stood up. He asked for everyone’s plates to go drop them off. “Let me come with you.” Eren said and stood up. “I never know what math class to go to, so I’m going to stick to you.” The other two got up as well. “See if you can eat with us again tonight.” Farlan said before he walked towards the school with Jean.   
  
Jean looked at Farlan with a questioning expression. “He was definitely hitting on Levi.” Farlan said. “Maybe, so what?” Jean asked him and he shrugged. “I want to see what Levi does. Nobody has hit on him with the intention of dating him.” Jean shook his head a bit. “And what if Levi goes for him?” Farlan chuckled. “There’s no way Levi would go for him. Or anyone. He’s just not that type.”   
  
Eren and Levi put down the plates and walked out of the dorm in comfortable silence. After a while, Levi bumped Eren with his elbow. “Still working on your new approach?” Eren smiled. “I’m going to find out what you like, so that when I ask you, you won’t be able to resist.” Levi chuckled softly. “Smart plan, but no guarantee that it’s going to work.” Eren shrugged. “Still worth a shot. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just have to irritate you until you give in.” Levi looked up at him. “And what gives you the impression that doing that will work?” Eren smiled. “It worked last time.” Levi couldn’t really argue with that.   
  
In math class, they did some work Eren hadn’t done before and he used it as the perfect excuse to move in next to Levi so that he could explain it to him when they got time in class to work on their homework. Levi enjoyed working with Eren and found himself agreeing to help him out again whenever he got stuck. That’s what they did later that night after dinner. Levi stayed at the table they ate at after dinner and waited for Eren to come back with his books. He helped Eren make notes on the work and explained it all to him. He worked out the equations they got for homework with Eren and took his book once they finished so that he could go copy it all over in his book. He definitely wasn’t going to do the same homework twice.   
  
“Hey, hold up.” Levi stopped and turned back to Eren. “Thanks for the help...” Levi nodded. “No problem.” As he turned to walk away, he heard Eren say: “I didn’t get to find out what you like.” He kept walking. “I like the color green.” He couldn’t see it, but he knew Eren was smiling. “Then I have the perfect idea.” This time Levi stopped to turn back and face Eren. “What type of date can you possibly think out around the fact that I like green? Were you going to suggest we stare at grass this weekend?” Eren smiled a half, lopsided smile. “No, but you can spend the whole weekend staring into my eyes.”   
  
Levi flushed. He almost smiled, but pressed his lips together before the upturn of the corners of his mouth became visible. “Not bad. And my mommy always told me pretty boys had nothing upstairs.” Eren chuckled softly. “I’m not the pretty one in this room.” Levi’s cheeks split into a full smile. He turned around to start walking up the stairs. “I’m going to go take a shower to wash off just how cheesy that was.” He heard Eren laughing a bit behind him. “So can I take that as a yes?” Levi rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. “I’d rather stare at grass.”   
  
Fifth Attempt:   
  
It turns out that Eren had not been joking about being irritating. Not that he could complain, because he did receive warning in advance.  Levi’s morning started with two physics periods and one English lit period. In other words, he had three straight periods of Eren.   
  
Somehow the brunette managed to swap seats with whoever Levi sat with in those classes – even Jean, that fucker – and he didn’t have a moment of peace. It wasn’t because Eren was actually doing anything other than making the occasional small talk, but because he knew for sure that Eren was going to do something. He had promised to, after all.   
  
He slowly but surely relaxed as time passed and Eren did nothing to indicate that he had any other intention than hanging out with him throughout the day. Lunch eventually rolled by and Eren hung out with them again. Eren was less focused on Levi and more on the group as they hung out on their usually spot. Connie did check up on him during lunch and told him where to find him if he ever needed it.   
  
Levi walked back to the school with Jean and Farlan after Eren headed back to Connie. “How was your evening with Eren last night?” Farlan asked. Levi shrugged. “Nothing special. I had to help him with trig translations.” Farlan put his arm around Levi’s shoulders. “You know he’s flirting with you, right?” Farlan asked him. He hesitated a moment before nodding. “He’s being stupid, though. I’m sure he knows I’m not interested.” Farlan sighed and smiled. “Famous last words.”   
  
When Farlan turned off to go to his class, Jean stopped with Levi. “Did he ask you again?” Levi nodded and smiled a bit. “With a real cheesy pickup line too. He really is a goofball.” Jean smiled. “I think you like him.” Levi frowned at him. “No, of course not. I’m just seeing how far he’s willing to go.” Jean’s smile only widened. “Yeah, because he doesn’t make you smile thinking about his ‘cheesy pickup line’. You want to say yes, admit it.” Levi huffed. “I don’t. And I can’t. Farlan would probably flip his shit.” Jean put his hand on Levi’s shoulder. “Blondie doesn’t matter in this. I know you two have some messed up stuff going on, but moving on with someone else might actually help clear all that, you know? And if it makes things worse, you still have me to fall back on.” Levi playfully shoved him off of him. “Thanks for the pep talk, doctor Phil.”   
  
Levi saw Eren again in math class and gave him back his book. “I have something for you too.” Eren said as he took his book and turned to put it in his bag. When he turned back to Levi, he put a flower down in front of him. Levi looked down at it. “A flower?” He asked and Eren smiled. “It always works in the movies, but the question is if it is working on you.” Levi smiled a bit and picked up the flower. “You haven’t asked anything yet.” Eren turned in his seat to face Levi directly. “With this stolen flower,” They both laughed softly. “I ask you to go out with me.”   
  
Levi looked at Eren and then down at the flower. “Where did you get this?” Levi asked instead of answering. Why was he stalling? “From that garden by the third dorm.” Levi smiled a bit. “That’s forbidden ground.” Eren’s eyes widened. “Oh…” Levi brought the flower up to his nose and smelled it. “Close, Greenie, but no cigar.” Eren sighed. “Dammit.” Levi chuckled softly.   
  
Sixth Attempt:   
  
“Where did you get a flower?” Farlan asked while they walked back to the dorms after school. “Uhm, Eren gave it to me.” Levi answered. “Eren? Is he still flirting with you?” Farlan made it sound so casual. “No, he asked me out.” That seemed to capture his attention. “He did? What did you say?” Levi smiled a bit. “I told him he would have to try harder.” Farlan grinned and put his arm around Levi’s shoulders. “Do I need to try harder before I suggest we go up to my room?” Farlan said in a teasing tone and Levi rolled his eyes. “Don’t be such an idiot. What do you want to do?” Farlan moved his arm to around Levi’s waist and pulled him a bit closer. Levi adjusted his messenger bag so that it wasn’t in the way. “I want to do you.” Farlan said in a low voice. “But,” He sighed. “It’s Thursday, meaning Jean will be joining us in fifteen minutes.”   
  
The two of them walked up to Farlan’s room. “In fifteen minutes we can do the next best thing.” Levi said and Farlan looked at him with an arched eyebrow. “And what is that?” Levi slid his hand into Farlan’s. “Dry humping.” Farlan squeezed Levi’s hand. “How barbaric.” He said with a smile and pulled Levi to his room a bit faster. “Hey, Levi!” Ace called out ahead of them, but Farlan stopped them by his room. “I call dibs!” He called back to Ace before pulling Levi into his room with him.   
  
“That was fun.” Levi commented while putting his bag down. When he saw Farlan’s confused expression, he explained. “You turned Ace down in five seconds flat.” Farlan smiled a bit and slid his arms around Levi’s middle. “You can do what and whoever you want to with the rest of your time, but when you’re with me, you are all mine. Got that?” Levi smiled and put his arms around Farlan’s neck. Hearing him be possessive over him made the lazy butterflies in his stomach wake and flutter around.   
  
Farlan lead them over to his bed and he laid down with Levi on top of him. They made out and grinded some until Jean knocked on the door. “Get your panties back on, I don’t want to see anything that’s not mine!” Levi sighed and pulled away from Farlan’s lips. Farlan sat up a bit and squeezed Levi’s ass a last time before taking his hands away. “We’re not doing anything, Horseface!” Levi made himself comfortable on Farlan’s lap while Jean came in. “Sure, because that’s what nothing looks like.” Farlan flipped him off. Levi readjusted his shirt.   
  
The next morning when Levi and Jean were waiting for Farlan outside the dorm, Jean asked him: “Did you tell Farlan that Eren asked you out?” Levi only nodded. “He didn’t make a big deal out of it.” Jean stood up when he spotted Farlan coming. “I’m glad. Maybe you could say yes next time he asks.” Levi smiled a bit and put on his cap. “We’ll see.” Farlan joined them before they walked to roll call.   
  
Roll call was long as always. Levi thought it was boring until they called out Brandon’s name. His name was called out twice and Levi was starting to get nervous. “Are we going to have this year’s first runner today?” The teacher asked and both Farlan and Jean gave Levi worried glances. “Who’s his roommate?” Levi reluctantly raised his hand and the teacher nodded towards the field. “We already marked you off. Get started.” Levi moved out of the crowd and started taking his blazer off. “No, keep it on. Your cap too. Now go.” Levi ran about four strides when Brandon showed up. “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here!” Levi stopped to look back and Brandon and the teacher sighed. “Did he check up on you this morning to make sure you got up?” Brandon said a definite “Yes sir!” The teacher sighed. “Ackerman, you’re off the hook. Frank, five laps to wake you up.” Brandon started running and Levi called out a thanks when he passed him.   
  
The second period Levi had math class and when he got there, Eren was sitting in his seat. “Good morning, Good Looking.” Eren greeted with a brilliant smile and the few boys around them turned to pay attention to them. “Eren. What are you doing?” Levi dropped his bag next to his desk.  “I am making a bold stand.” Eren proclaimed. “Oh yeah? Well get off of my seat so that I can watch this ‘bold stand’ of yours.” Eren grinned. “No can do, Levi. Not until you agree” Levi frowned. “Agree with what?” Eren leaned onto Levi’s table with his elbow. “Agree to go out with me.”   
  
That statement made a few more guys join the small group already around them. “What’s going on?” One guy asked. “Greenie just asked Levi out.” Another answered. “Did he ask Farlan?” One at the back asked and Levi huffed. “This is really funny, Eren, but get off of my seat.” Eren shook his head. “Not until you say yes.”   
  
“Seriously?” Eren nodded and a few guys laughed. “I’ll find somewhere else, then.” Levi moved to an empty seat, but the guy next to it put his bag on it. “Sorry, seat taken.” Levi glared at the asshole and turned around to find another seat, but the rest of the class was helping Eren instead of him. “Just say yes, Levi.” One guy next to Eren said and Levi walked up to them. “No. Why do you care so much about a stupid bet?” He was now addressing Eren who looked up at him with a soft smile.   
  
“It’s not about the bet anymore. Monday was about the bet.” Levi pressed his lips together for a moment. “Then why are you still doing this?” One of the other boys answered. “Because he wants a season pass!” The class laughed and Levi flushed. “Actually, I just really want to take you on a date.” Eren said and Levi felt his face warm up more. “Eren, please. Just – this is stupid. If you don’t get up, I swear to God I’m going to sit on you.” A few boys whistled and Eren’s ears reddened. “I-I, no that’s not what, uhm, what I was going for…”   
  
Levi smiled a bit. So Eren was easily embarrassed. “You mean you don’t want me to sit on you lap?” He asked to tease Eren. Call it a bit of revenge. “I’ll take it if he doesn’t want it.” A few guys laughed and one clapped his hand down on Eren’s shoulder. “Go for it, man. Probably the closest to a yes you’re going to get.” Red crawled down to Eren’s cheeks and he shook his head. “Levi. Please, one date. We can do whatever you want to.” Levi felt the storm of butterflies thunder in his stomach. No one has been so set on not getting in his pants. Eren’s innocent proposal was flattering, he almost felt as if he didn’t deserve it.   
  
The raven sighed to try and play it off cool. “Will you stop being such a shithead if I say yes?” Eren smiled again. “I promise.” Levi hesitated for a moment before he nodded. The class cheered and Eren smiled even more. “Thank you.” Levi smiled a bit as well. “Uhm, yeah…” Eren stood up and pulled Levi’s chair out for him. Levi sat down and Eren pushed him in. “I’ll see you at break.” Eren left to go sit in his own seat. He watched the brunette walk off to his seat and be congratulated by some of the other guys.   
  
A soft smile spread on his lips. He was going on a date with Eren.   
  
The news spread like wildfire. ‘Levi is going on a date!’   
He shouldn’t have been surprised that Farlan and Jean came sniffing him out the second the bell signaled that it was lunch. “I don’t believe it!” Jean exclaimed and Levi tried not to smile. “Yeah… I don’t know why I said yes.” Jean smiled like an idiot. “Because you have been checking Yeager out since day one.” Levi rolled his eyes at Jean.   
  
Farlan finally showed up. “I hear you said yes to Greenie.” He said before greeting either of them. Unlike Jean, Farlan wasn’t visibly happy about the news. Or visibly upset for that matter. “Mhm, he was being persistent, so I said yes to get him to shut up.” Levi bottled up his smile again and shrugged as if his answer was no big deal. “Is it just a date?” Farlan asked and Levi nodded. “I’m hoping for it to lead to another one.” Eren said as he stepped up next to Levi.   
  
The group of four started walking to the dorm. “How did you ask him?” Farlan asked. “How did you get him to say yes?” Jean added and Eren chuckled softly. “I didn’t give him a choice.” Levi nodded. “He didn’t want to give me my seat and since the rest of the class was a bunch of dicks, they helped him out.” The other two laughed a bit.   
  
“What are you two going to do?” Jean asked and they all looked at Levi. “Uh, I don’t care what we do.” Farlan moved to stand between Levi and Jean. “You can’t say that. Eren’s paying –“ He looked at Eren and he nodded. “– so you can say you want to do anything.” Jean nodded. “Yeah! You guys can go watch a movie, eat at a restaurant, play –“ Levi interrupted him. “No, I don’t want to go do anything major. In fact, I don’t even want to go to the town.” He wasn’t planning on going on a second date, so he didn’t want to make Eren go all out on the first date. It would feel like he was using him and he didn’t want to do that to Eren.   
  
Luckily, Eren was there to save him from his stupid friends. “Why don’t we just do something here at school, then?” Eren suggested and Jean frowned at him. “Like what?” The four boys fell into the queue to get their lunch. “Like a picnic. Or you could show me around school.” Farlan and Jean both looked like they were about to protest, but Levi was quick to answer before they could say anything. “Yes. We can do that. Nothing else, we’re just going to hang out at school this weekend.” Eren smiled. “Saturday, then. What time?” Levi thought for a moment. “Ten. My room in the third one after the fire extinguisher.”   
  
Once they all had their food, they moved to go sit on their usual spot. “So, Eren.” Farlan said once they sat down. “I hope you realized how much you scored with this date.” Levi almost blushed. Hearing Farlan compliment him warmed his chest. “Yeah.” Eren looked at Levi and smile. “If it’s with him, it’s going to be fantastic.” Hearing Eren compliment him nearly had a similar effect. It made him wonder. Farlan hummed. “Take it from someone who knows. Besides, you’re in for some fun because most of Levi’s dates end with a dick down his throat.”   
  
It was the type of joke Levi was used to hearing and it never really bothered him, but now that Eren was there, he was embarrassed. Even if he wasn’t trying to impress him. He didn’t know how to defend himself, or rather, what do defend himself from. None of Levi’s encounters could be considered dates, but it was true that most of them had a dick or two involved. There was no use in lying to Eren either, because he was soon to find out the truth if he didn’t already know.   
  
“Oh, no, no, I’m not expecting anything like that. That’s not why I asked him.” The tips of Eren’s ears reddened just like they did in class and Levi wondered if Eren knew about it. Farlan smirked a bit. “Don’t worry, you probably wouldn’t even need to ask.” Jean subtly nudged Farlan in the ribs to tell him to cut it out. Levi felt heat rise up his cheeks and furrowed his brows in embarrassment. He stuffed his mouth with a big bite of his lunch so that he wouldn’t be expected to say anything.   
  
Levi actually felt stupid. He shouldn’t let it embarrass him so much. “Uhm, no…” Eren awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “I really don’t expect you to do anything, Levi. I was hoping that we could just hang out and get to know each other.” Eren was looking at Levi and the raven could feel it, but he silently refused to look back at him. He did, however, nod to give Eren some type of reaction so that they could move on.   
  
“Don’t take Blondie so seriously.” Jean said when the group fell silent. “He’s just being stupid. It’s his shit way of seeing if we should allow you near Levi. We actually care about our shorty.” He threw his arm around Farlan’s shoulders who simply nodded along. “We’ve been together since our first day here.” Jean continued to say. “So don’t think you can steal him away either.”   
  
Fridays after school, the physical training teacher stayed in the gym after school until four thirty to help boys plan out a workout routine and help them exercise. Jean decided to go, because he said he wanted to ask the teacher to make sure he was ready to use higher level equipment. Jean had seriously hurt his arm in the gym at the beginning of grade and has been careful ever since.   
  
Since Jean was going to be busy for at least two hours, Levi and Farlan had some time to be alone. And have sex.   
  
They both knew that was the plan and were both a little excited. “Jean won’t be back until we need to start getting ready to go home.” Farlan said as they walked up the stairs to the floor with all the grade eleven rooms. “Yeah.” Levi followed Farlan as they walked to Farlan’s room together. Once inside, Farlan closed the door and put his hands on Levi’s hips.   
  
“We can do whatever you want to today.” Farlan said by Levi’s ear before kissing down his neck. Levi hummed softly and smiled a bit. “We should go take a shower together.” He slid his bag off of his shoulder before turning to face the taller blonde. “Together, you say.” Farlan slid his arms around Levi’s middle and leaned in to kiss him. Levi put his arms around Farlan’s shoulders and kissed him back with a bit of a smile. When he spoke again, he did so with his lips still against Farlan’s soft and minty ones. “It would be fun.”   
  
They separated to gather their shower supplies and agreed to meet in the bathroom as soon as possible. Levi grabbed his towel and a different set of clothes in his room before walking to the bathroom. When he got there, Farlan was already shirtless.   
  
The showers and the rest of the bathroom were separate by a wall with a walkway in the middle. Beyond the wall was the row of showers across from a built in bench. The showers were separated by wall segments, but they had no doors. Because of that, they took one of the showers further away from the walkway so that no innocent pisser saw anything he didn’t want to.   
  
Levi dropped his towel and clothes on the bench next to Farlan’s and started getting undressed. “Wait.” He looked up at the naked blonde with his hands frozen on his open pants. “Make a show out of it.” Levi chuckled softly and turned around before he gave an exaggerate hip wiggle as he started pushing his pants and underwear down. He bent forwards to push his ass out a bit and heard Farlan laugh softly. Levi stepped out of his pants and put it down next to his towel.   
  
“Only you can make something like that look sexy.” Farlan said and it made Levi laugh a bit. “I have given you a decent show, though.” Levi commented while pulling off his tie. Farlan nodded while slowly stroking himself. “I wish you would have let me take a picture of you.” Levi shook his head while quickly popping the buttons of his shirt. “People get expelled for taking pictures of them wearing a school uniform like that. I’m already on thin ice as it is, so I’m not taking chances.”   
  
Once they were both naked, Farlan turned on the water and quickly adjusted the temperature. When he deemed it perfect, he wrapped his arms around Levi and pulled him in under the water with him. Levi automatically put his arms around Farlan’s neck. “I always knew I could get you wet for me.” They both chuckled before leaning in to kiss.   
  
Farlan’s hands roamed over Levi’s skin and reached down to give both of Levi’s cheeks a squeeze. Levi’s lips were parted and ready when Farlan decided to deepen the kiss and slide his tongue into Levi’s mouth. “Mmnh…” The soft sound Levi made when Farlan squeezed his cheeks and pushed him closer was muffled against Farlan’s lips. He could feel Farlan’s erection pressing into his hip and couldn’t wait to feel more of it.   
  
“I love doing this with you…” Levi said softly when they separated to breathe. “I love doing you.” Farlan answered and slid his fingers towards Levi’s entrance. “Then do me. Make it feel good.” Levi pushed his hips back so that Farlan could easily slide his finger into him. It soon became two fingers that scissored in him before a third was added as well. “Are you ready?” Levi nearly whined “Haah, yes…” He tilted his face up to look at Farlan and he kissed Levi again.   
  
While their eyes were closed and their tongues were brushing together, Farlan moved Levi backwards until he was against the shower wall. Levi was hoisted up and instinctively wrapped his legs around Farlan’s waist. He could feel Farlan’s hot shaft tapping against his inner thighs as Farlan shifted his feet to find a position that was more stable. “I want to feel you in me.” Levi said next to Farlan’s ear. Farlan held Levi up by gripping on to his shaped thighs. He released one of Levi’s thighs to reach past it and line his shaft up with Levi’s prepared hole.   
  
Levi groaned when Farlan started pushing into him. The stretch didn’t necessarily hurt, but it was still there. Farlan pushed in and leaned more into Levi. The raven’s arms came up around the other’s torso and pressed his fingers into his soft skin. Oh how he wanted to sink his nails in and scratch long, red stripes down that back, but he knew Farlan didn’t like anything of the sort.   
  
Farlan started moving, his hips gong forwards and back to slide his dick in and out of Levi’s hole, but something was different. “This isn’t working…” Farlan said and Levi nodded. Levi’s legs can only spread so far and blocked Farlan from properly pushing in. There was a small triangle gap between their hips and it made a big difference.   
  
Farlan pulled out and moved to return Levi to his feet, but Levi stopped him. He didn’t want his face pressed against the wall, not when he was with Farlan. “Move my leg up.” Farlan did as Levi said and hooked Levi’s one leg over his shoulder. Levi used that leg to help him move the other one up as well while Farlan held on to his hips to keep him up. Farlan had to lean forwards a bit to support them and Levi had to grab on to the top of the wall segment, but it worked much better. Levi’s ass was now flush against Farlan’s hips and he could feel his slightly pulsing shaft where it was now nestled in between his cheeks. Farlan groaned softly and slowly grinded his hips into Levi as he adjusted his grip on Levi’s thighs that were now by his chest.   
  
Levi had to reach under himself and help align Farlan’s shaft, but it was glorious having him fully sink into him. “Ah… Farlan, mmnh.” Levi grabbed at Farlan’s forearm with the hand that wasn’t holding on to the wall. His moans started echoing through the empty bathroom when Farlan started moving his hips. With the new position came a new angle and it was damn near maddening how close the head of Farlan’s shaft was to Levi’s prostate. Levi tried rocking back, but there was little he could do in the position he was in.   
  
When it finally became unbearable, Levi cried out and clenched around Farlan. “Fuck, Farlan, please - !” The blonde kept thrusting with a bit of a smirk on his lips. His hair clung to his face from the water and framed it. “Ask for it.” Levi whined. “Please…” He pleaded, his head pressed back against the wall. “I need it, please, make me feel good!” Farlan moved his hands to Levi’s hips and adjusted them a bit before driving into him with new force. Levi moaned loudly when he finally got what he wanted and came on his chest in bursts of white.   
  
Farlan followed a few thrusts later, releasing with a loud groan and tightening his grip on Levi’s hips to the point that it was almost painful. Levi was set back on his feet and they both washed themselves up before Farlan turned off the water.   
  
“Where are you going?” Farlan asked while Levi wrapped his towel around himself after drying off. “I need a drink. I’m going to the basins.” Farlan nodded and stood in the shower while he dried himself off. When Levi stepped out of the shower, he noticed something from one of the other showers. He was about to inspect it when Eren stepped out, still fully dressed.   
  
“Levi!” He greeted cheerfully. “What are you doing here?” Levi asked while making sure his towel was secured around his waist. Why doesn’t he want Eren to see him like this? “I checked out the gym after Jean told me about it, but I decided to cut it short. There would be less people in there this weekend.” Levi nodded. Eren was in his gym clothes and a bit sweaty, so he definitely got to work out some. “How long have you been here?” Levi asked and Eren smiled a tight lipped smile. “A little while.” Levi didn’t know what to say. “Oh…”   
  
Farlan stepped out behind Levi. “Who’s here?” He saw Eren and smiled. “Hey. Did you go to the gym?” Eren nodded. “But now I need a shower.” Levi looked at Eren. He knew. There was no way he didn’t. “We need to get going in any ways.” Levi said and turned to quickly walk back to the shower he came from. He heard Farlan and Eren greet each other while he furiously dried himself off again. He was pissed, mainly at himself, because of course Eren had to hear them.   
  
Then he realized; what about their date? Was it still on? Or did this make Eren change his mind. He pulled on his clothes to go ask Eren, but heard water start running. He decided against it, accepted defeat and waited for Farlan to finish so that they could go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! This is my first real attempt to write a book. I'm doing this to practice writing chapters that follow each other instead of writing one shots. It's enjoyable and I'm looking forwards to seeing how you all enjoy following the storyline! As always, feel free to comment!


	4. A Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go on their date and learn a bit more about each other.

Levi rolled over in his bed and pulled the blanket up to cover his shoulder again. It was Saturday, probably around five, maybe six, in the morning and he was already awake. Over the holidays Levi could sleep the day away, but during the school term, he was so used to getting up at five in the morning that he woke up early over the weekend as well.

But he definitely wasn’t a morning person by choice and just because he wakes up early doesn’t mean that he also has to get up early. He made himself comfortable beneath his soft sheets and drifted in and out of sleep a few times until he couldn’t stand his bed anymore. The rest of the dorm has started waking up as well. Typical sounds like the talking and laughing of boys started filling the diminishing silence as more and more boys made their way down to the cafeteria.

Levi rolled over again and looked over at Brandon’s bed. The buffoon was half under his blanket and half on top of it. Now that Levi was looking at him, he could hear the soft snoring he had grown so used to hearing that he managed to faze it out most of the time. He decided to drag himself out of bed instead of analyzing his roommate any further.

A groan came from Levi when he pushed himself up onto his feet. The muscles at the back of his thighs hurt, the sore stiffness making standing unpleasant. He stretched his arms out above his head and bent forwards, all the way down until he touched his toes. On his way down he could feel his sore muscles being stretched out, making them ache a bit more. He crossed his arms and allowed them do hang in front of him. He bounced his torso, standing up a bit before dropping back as low as he could go. He did it a few times to stretch himself out properly before standing up again.

Levi pulled on his slipper socks before walking out of the room. He swung the door shut behind him and briefly wondered if the sound of it shutting woke Brandon up before realizing that he doesn’t care. With the amount of times Brandon has woken him up, it was only fair after all.

There was barely a queue for breakfast. The majority of boys got to go home over the weekend, so the dorm was relatively quiet until the busses returned on Sundays. There were three types of sandwiches laid out to choose from for the boys to come get whenever they decide to get out of bed. Levi took three triangles and sat down on at the nearest table. After eating the first two, Levi picked up the mayo and cheese one he had left and ate it while walking to drop his plate off. He looked at the coffee making station with the boiler and mugs, but decided to skip it before heading up to his room.

The clock at the top of the staircase said it was already eight o’clock when Levi arrived back on his floor. He should probably start getting ready if he wanted to be on time to get stood up. Eren was nice to him after they had an awkward encounter in the bathroom, but he didn’t join Levi at dinner like he had been doing for the past few days. He probably thought it would be better to steer clear of him. Not that Levi could blame him. To any outsider, his setup with Farlan would be a warning sign. What type of guy encourages someone else to take the person they’re sleeping with on a date? Eren is probably confused as shit and Levi couldn’t hold it against him.

Regardless of his pessimism, Levi decided to still have fun getting ready for the date. The first thing he did after eating breakfast was go to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He brushed until his mouth was full of froth. He rinsed his mouth and bared his teeth at himself in the mirror before deciding to brush them again. If he missed a spot, his breath would probably smell like stale mayonnaise all day and that was probably the least romantic thing Levi could imagine.

“Sup!” Connor said and slapped his hand on Levi’s shoulder. “Glad it’s finally the weekend, right?” Levi nodded in agreement as he tapped his toothbrush dry on the edge of the sink and packed it away. “You think we could play with the bald men a bit later today?” He asked and Levi took a moment to decipher what he meant. “Would you mind waiting until after lunch? I have some shit to do first.” Connor smiled. “You got that date today, don’t you?” Levi smiled a bit and nodded. “Yeah, but it shouldn’t take long.” Connor laughed some and Levi headed back to his room. “Remember not to go too hard on the newbie!” Connor called after him and Levi called back “We’re not doing that!”

Brandon wasn’t there when Levi got back, so he had the room to himself. He wasn’t going to take advantage of it yet, though. He gathered his shower supplies and went back to the bathroom. He did take a shower the previous day with Farlan, but going on a date was as good as any excuse to take another one. The showers were empty except for the wanker in the last one. Levi lathered up his loofah properly before starting to wash himself. Once every patch of skin was scrubbed clean, he rinsed the soap off of himself and lathered up his hair with shampoo.

The water was so wonderfully warm that Levi decided to stay in the shower longer than strictly necessary. While relaxing under the spray of water, Levi wondered why he was putting in so much effort into a date that he himself said wasn’t going to amount to anything. He realized that it wasn’t for the date, but for himself. The date was just the perfect excuse to treat himself to a long shower.

When Levi eventually finished – it took extra time to dry his hair – he was properly dried off and had his underwear slipped on. He couldn’t decide on what to wear in the time he was grabbing his towel and gathering his soap and shampoo, so he wrapped his towel around his waist before gathering his things again and going back to his room to get dressed. He kept an eye out for Eren, because the last thing he wanted was to bump into him beforehand.

Back in his room, Levi hung his towel up over the door of his locker so that it could dry and started looking for something to wear. He didn’t have anything in his locker suited for wearing on a date, because the last time he was in a shop to buy weekend clothes, he wasn’t expecting to need anything for a date. The casual clothes he brought were things like sweats and lame t-shirts so that he had something to wear while lounging in his room over the weekend. There was one time a group of them went out to the movies, because the last Fast and Furious was playing and that time Levi had borrowed a pair of jeans from that kid Armin.

Armin was sweet and academic. You only ever heard about him when the top students were called out. Levi never hung out with him, but he was a nice guy that coincidentally wore the same size as he did. Come to think of it, Eren knows him too. When he isn’t bothering Levi in math class, he is sitting next to Armin because he was the top student in class and thus the best person to help Eren out until he is all caught up. Although, Levi did miss being Eren’s go-to guy for a few days.

A few minutes later, Levi was knocking on Armin’s door with the best outfit that he could find on him. Not that his best fitting pair of black sweats and a plain shirt was very impressive. “Good morning.”  Armin greeted when he opened the door and saw Levi. “Hey. Uh, I need something to wear. Do you have anything I can borrow?” Armin smiled. “For your date?” Levi nodded. It seems like everyone really did know about the date and he felt as if the rest of the grade knew more about his date than he did. Armin stepped to the side so that Levi could come in.

“What are you guys planning on doing?” Armin asked while looking through his locker. “Nothing major.” Levi said and sat down on the bed. The other bed was empty and Levi tried remembering if Armin was one of the kids that were bunking alone. “We’re just going to walk around the school, maybe have a picnic.” Armin turned to look Levi over. “I think you should go in those sweats; they look pretty good on you.” Levi said a small thanks and Armin went back to looking in his locker. “How about this?” Armin pulled out a relatively slim fitting sweater that was grey with a big 27 printed in black on the front.

“Let me try it.” Levi look off his shirt and pulled on the sweater. It looked pretty good with his sweats that were luckily not the baggy type. He looked relaxed and casual, but not slobby or lazy. “Thanks, Armin.” The blonde smiled. “Just get it back to me. And have fun. Eren is really sweet.” Levi smiled a bit as well. “Yeah… I need to finish up, though. See you.” Armin gave him the shirt he came with before he went back to his room.

The clock on Levi’s phone said that he still had forty-five minutes to finish up. Brandon was back in the room when Levi got there, but he was busy with a project, so he didn’t bother Levi much. Levi took off his slipper shoes and put on small socks with black shoes. He looked in the mirror and fiddled with his hair a bit. “Are you nervous?” Brandon asked. Levi finished trying to part his hair a bit to the side. “No… It’s not like we’re going anywhere with it, so…” He turned off his phone and put it away, otherwise he would be counting the seconds until Eren was supposed to come.

Truth was, Levi was nervous as hell. He had no idea how a real-life date was supposed to work and was afraid that Eren might laugh if he tries to do something or says something stupid. So he had decided not to do anything. Eren should be capable of taking the lead. “Then why go, man? Isn’t that just messing with him?” Levi frowned a bit and looked at Brandon who was still writing and not looking up at him. “It’s not like he doesn’t know.” Brandon raised an eyebrow and looked at Levi’s sour expression. “Okay.”

Levi didn’t really want to sit still, so he went to the bathroom again to try and fix his hair with a bit of water. He wet his hand before combing his fingers through his hair. That helped persuade his hair to stay the way he wanted it to be. He checked the clock by the staircase. Fifteen minutes to go.

“What time is it now?” Levi asked after what felt like a minor eternity. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed and trying to be patient. Brandon sighed and leaned to the side to check on his phone that was charging at the end of the bed. “I’m not nervous.” He teased while checking. Levi rolled his eyes. “Stop being an asshole until you’ve checked the time.”

“He should be here any second now, Levi.” The raven nodded and sat up a bit straighter. Brandon decided to mess with him a bit. “Unless Eren is the type of guy that’s late. Then he might not be here for another hour. Have you checked that he’s out of bed at least?” Levi’s eyes widened a bit. He hasn’t seen Eren at all. He could very well still be sleeping. “Maybe you should go check?” Brandon suggested when he saw Levi’s reaction. Over the last few years, he has learned to read Levi’s small change in expressions like a book. “I mean, Gecko always sleeps in on Saturdays, so it’s not like he would wake Eren up.” Just as Levi moved to get up, there was a knock on the door. Brandon checked the time. “Three minutes past. Not bad.” Levi ignored him and got up to open the door.

“Hey, is Patches here?” Levi looked at Brandon’s friend with a flat expression. “Yes. He might be too busy being an ass to see you, though.” He said while stepping to the side for the friend to come in. He could hear Brandon snickering behind him. With a sigh, Levi stepped back to swing the door shut, but it was blocked.

Levi pulled the door open again, ready to snap if it was another of his roommate’s friends because he just knew they were going to mess up his bed, but instead it opened to reveal Eren in a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt with a green sweater tied around his waist. “Hey.” Eren smiled a brilliant smile and Levi thought about how contagious it has to be to be able to pull the corners of his mouth up into a smile as well. “Morning.” He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him before Brandon could say anything. “You look good.” Eren complimented and Levi felt the first flutter in his stomach.

“So how does this work…?” Levi asked as they walked out of the dorm. “We just have some fun.” Eren said with a smile. “There’s nothing we are expected to do, so yeah.” Levi nodded and walked with Eren. They headed the opposite direction of the school and started walking a big loop around the sport fields. Levi did notice the unfortunate lack of a picnic basket or bag and wondered if that meant that they were going to be back for lunch or were going to rush back for it. At first, Eren was in charge of most of the conversation, but Levi soon eased into it.

“My turn to ask something.” Levi said after they both answered Eren’s question about their favorite childhood pets. Eren’s favorite was his Labrador that looked like the one in ‘Marley and Me’. He also loved dramatic chick flicks, it seemed. Levi’s favorite was his black cat Silky. She had been muted, but did this cute thing where she always opened her mouth when you did. She would sit on Levi’s bed with him in the evenings and ‘yawn’ with him.

“Do you have any scars?” That was Levi’s question. “Oh yeah, quite a few. None of them are anything extreme, though. Look at this.” He pulled his sleeve up past his elbow and gestured to an elongated patch of scar tissue that was a pale shade compare to the rest of Eren’s skin. Levi’s eyes widened a bit when he saw it. It looked like something he would classify as ‘extreme’.

“What happened there?” Eren rubbed his finger over the spot. “My family used to visit my uncle’s farm when I was a kid. The one year he tried flattening some metal rods by warming up the end and then hitting it with a hammer. Can’t even remember what for. My aunt sent me to go get him for lunch one day. He couldn’t hear me over the hammering, so I went in while he was getting the next rod. I tapped on his shoulder and he turned around, swinging the hot end right into my arm.”

Levi hissed a bit. “Ouch. That must have been bad.” Eren chuckled a bit and nodded. “I screamed my head off. I didn’t want anyone to touch it, so I made it hard for my parents to help me out.” Levi laughed a bit. “Probably not your parents’ favorite holiday.” Eren shook his head with another chuckle while he pulled his sleeve back down. “That one is probably the worst. Oh, but check out this one.”

Eren stopped walking and turned around to show Levi another pale scar on the back of his neck. He had to push his hair up a bit so that Levi could see the small mark. He turned back around and walked while he explained. “We were having a huge bonfire and I was messing round with the coals that fell out round the bottom. We were a group of five sitting there with sticks and trying to get a coal further out without our sticks catching fire. This one kid took two sticks and picked a small one up, but it popped out from between the two sticks and landed in my collar.”

“You need to stay away from hot things.” Levi commented and Eren smiled a stupid smile. “What?” He asked when he saw it. “So you’re saying I need to stay away from you?” Levi blushed a bit and almost frowned. He honestly walked straight into that one.

“Hot things that can burn you, you idiot.” Eren laughed a bit. “What about you? Do you have any scars?” Levi nodded and stopped walking. “Nothing as cool as yours, but:” He gripped onto the edge of his sweater and pulled it up to show the small line just above his right hip. “That’s the only scar worth mentioning.” He said as he turned a bit so that Eren could look at the faint line. “I had to have my appendix removed in grade nine. Got to spend a few days in hospital instead of at school. It was pretty cool.”

“I’ve luckily never had to spend a night in a hospital. Nurses freak me out.” Levi chuckled softly and looked at Eren while Eren looked at the scar. “I just irritated the nurses a lot because I didn’t want to stay in my bed. And there was this old lady also in recovery that thought I looked like her grandson, so she would come to my room and ask to draw pictured with me.” Eren laughed a bit. “That’s not something that happens every day.”

They reached a part of the path that was only wide enough for one person to pass through behind the cricket nets and Eren, being the gentleman, stepped aside so that Levi could walk through first. As much as Levi appreciated the gesture, he preferred having Eren next to him. “Let’s walk over the field.” Levi suggested to avoid any more narrow passages. Eren agreed and they changed the direction they were moving in.

Levi tried thinking of a new topic because he didn’t want them to fall silent, even though silence wasn’t uncomfortable with Eren. “Where do you live?” Was the first thing Levi came up with. “I used to live in my family’s town house in Southrand, but my mom wanted to move back to our house by the shore, so I came here and my parents moved back. I lived there when I was younger, but this upcoming holiday will be the first time in a few years I go there.” Levi nodded along as Eren explained. The brunette clearly came from a wealthy family like almost everyone else in the school.

“What about you?” Eren moved a bit closer to Levi’s side, probably unintentionally, but Levi was suddenly extremely aware of how close Eren’s hand was to his. Their hands brushed against each other on every off beat as they walked and Levi made sure his hand stayed there, just in case Eren thought of holding it.

“Oh, uh, me?” Levi bit his lip. Who else would Eren be asking. “Up North. There by the old mountain path extension.” Eren’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s really far out. Do the busses even go there?” Levi shook his head. “Not even half way.” Eren frowned. “Do you ever go home?” Levi paused for a moment. He would have liked to go home more often. “Well, I can. It’ just easier to stay here.” Eren’s frown deepened. “All year?” Levi shrugged. I go home with friends over the holidays and my mom sends me cash to get whatever I need. It works and it’s only so long until I finish school and get to go home for good.” Eren wisely decided to back away from the subject.

“Do you know what you want to do after school?” Eren asked. “Not really.” Levi admitted. “Maybe something in law and geography. I’ve heard that there’s quite a demand for lawyers that can help with environmental cases. What about you?” Eren put his hands in his pockets and Levi’s spirits crashed. “My dad wants me to take over his business someday, but I would want to do something in programming.” Levi hummed. “Sounds cool. If you think it’s fun, you could always do it on the side.” Eren smiled. “Yeah… I could always do that.”

They walked up the stairs on the other side of the field to the walkway. When they got there, Eren smiled at Levi. “Hey.” Levi looked at him “Yeah?” Eren looked back at the stairs they just climbed. There was a thick pole running down the middle serving as a handrail. “Do you want to do something fun?”

Levi pressed his lips together, expecting the worst. “What type of fun?” It would be disappointing if Eren ended up asking for a favor, but luckily that was the last thing on Eren’s mind. “Old school fun.” Eren walked the few steps back to the railing. “Let’s slide down this thing. Look at how long it is.” Levi stepped closer and looked at the railing. “And if we fall?” Eren smiled. “Then we’ll have new scars for next time.” Levi smiled and put his hands on the pole. “Let’s do it.”

Eren wanted Levi to go first, but Levi simply refused. “Okay, I’ll go first.” Eren said instead of arguing with the stubborn raven. “But that doesn’t mean you can chicken out once I’m down there.” Eren hopped onto the pole and looked down at the end. “It’s really long.” Levi chuckled softly. “Chickening out?” Eren looked back at him with a cute, determined smile. “Not at all.” He gave Levi a small wave before starting to slide down the long pole. He picked up speed as he slid down the smooth pole, going faster and faster until he reached the bottom where he pushed himself off and launched forwards with a hell of a speed.

“Woohoo!” Eren exclaimed when he reached the bottom and threw his arms up into the air. “Come on! It’s awesome!” Levi was a bit more uncertain after seeing Eren launch off of the end. He’s smaller than Eren, so he would probably be launched twice as far. “I can’t do that end part!” He called back to Eren. There was a short pause. “Then I’ll catch you!”

Levi looked at Eren waiting at the bottom for him. “You promise?” He could see the brunette nodding. “Definitely.” Levi nodded to himself and grabbed onto the pole. He took a deep breath before turning around and hopping up onto the pole. Both of his hands gripped tightly onto the pole so that he didn’t slip. While he scooted a bit to sit a bit better, he almost lost his balance.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins and he started sliding. At first he moved slowly, but once he started sliding, it just went faster and faster. Levi’s sweatpants twisted around his hips a bit from the friction of the slide and he could feel the occasional bump and dip in the pole under himself as he moved over them, but he could also feel the cool wind brushing his face and pulling through his hair. “Whoooo!” He called out on his way down as he zipped towards Eren at an accelerating pace.

In total, it took a few seconds to slide down the pole, but it was a few seconds of great fun. Levi’s heart was thumping when he reached the end and had to push himself off of the pole. He spotted Eren quickly moving into position before he jumped off and launched towards him. Eren’s arms hugged around him and they both stumbled a bit before they recovered. Once Levi was securely on his feet, Eren let go of him.

Levi laughed. “That was so much fun!” he exclaimed and Eren laughed as well. “Was it worth it?” Eren asked as he lead them back up the stairs. “Oh yeah. I would do it again, but I’m not climbing these stairs again.” Eren laughed a bit. “Aren’t you one of the track runners?” He asked. “Yes, the lazy track runner.” Levi corrected him. They both laughed a bit once more.

When they reached the path at the top of the stairs again, Eren looked at his hands and dusted them off after touching the pole that had some paint flaking off. “Something wrong?” Levi asked when he noticed that Eren had stopped walking. “Oh, no, I was just thinking something.” He walked to Levi’s side and they continued together. “Like what?” Eren smiled a bit nervously. “I was thinking that I would actually like to hold your hand.”

Levi pressed his lips together to stop a smile from showing. “You do?” Eren nodded. “Yeah, I kind of do.” He paused for a moment. “May I?” Levi looked at Eren, his face slightly pink. “You, uh, you’re asking?” Eren nodded and waited. “Well… Yeah, I guess…” Levi looked at the brick pattern on the floor ahead of them and felt Eren slowly take his hand. They both adjusted their fingers a bit for the way Eren’s hand was wrapped around Levi’s to be comfortable.

Both of them were quiet for a moment. To Levi, Eren’s hand was wonderfully warm and he wondered if that meant Eren thought his hand was cold. For a moment he worried about if his always dry hands were soft enough, because Eren’s hand definitely was. Eren rubbed his thumb over the back of Levi’s thumb once and Levi decided that he really liked the hand holding thing.

“So…” Levi started after a moment of silence, trying to think of something new to talk about. “You really like ice cream?” He wanted to talk to Eren, to hear about what he does and doesn’t like, to talk about what gets him excited. Hear all the things hookups never bothered to share. “Ice cream is my favorite. Even if it’s cold out, I would prefer ice cream over anything else.” Levi smiled a bit. “Do you have a favorite flavor?” Eren smiled as well. “Vanilla is good enough for me. Though my grandma used to make her own ice cream that I loved."

“You can make your own ice cream?” Levi asked and Eren shrugged. “Apparently. I still don’t know what she made it with, but she added chocolate chips or fruit pieces. I didn’t like it that much when she put raisins in, but that’s because I hated raisins when I was a kid.” Levi nodded along as he listened. Eren seemed more than willing to share any random aspect of his life and Levi kind of enjoyed it. “The best ice cream I’ve ever had comes from a local shop near my old school. I had a big bowl of extra creamy Oreo ice cream before we left.”

After a moment, Eren realized he was babbling a bit. “What about you? You never told me if you liked ice cream or not.” Levi shrugged. “It’s nice, but I prefer milkshakes. There’s a bigger variety to choose from.”

Eren smiled a bit. “That makes sense. You know, I’ve always wanted to try a peanut butter milkshake. I’ve heard that they’re amazing.” Levi nodded. “They’re good, but you get tired of them quickly. But since you like Oreo ice cream, you will probably like the Oreo milkshake. I bet they taste the same.” Eren smiled. “Is there a place around here that has them?” Levi hummed as he nodded. “We could go next week or something.”

Eren grinned and looked at Levi. “What?” The raven asked. “Are you suggesting we go on a second date?” Levi was suddenly very aware of Eren’s hand in his. “I guess you could call it a date if you wanted to… But only because there are milkshakes involved.” Eren smiled happily and Levi felt like the fluttering of butterflies in his chest was going to make him float away. “I’ll take that. It will be fun.” Levi nodded and looked ahead of them again.

The path they were on made a fork and Levi aimed to go to the one side, but Eren pulled him to the other side. “It’s shorter that way, you know.” Levi said when they went the way Eren wanted to go. “Yeah, but this way looks like more fun.” Levi didn’t mind Eren’s odd reasoning, because a longer path meant longer with Eren.  Since it wasn’t going to become a regular thing, Levi saw no harm in dragging it out a little longer.

“This school is massive.” Eren commented as he looked over the sport fields to the school buildings standing in the distance. They were on the far side of the school, near the wall separating the school from the road outside. “There’s even more on the other side. The dorms are there, but the pool is back there and they plan on building a new building to the left of that one.” Eren scanned the grounds. “It’s a beautiful place.” Levi smiled a bit. “Until exam gloom settles in.” Eren chuckled softly.

As they walked, Eren moved his hand in Levi’s grip. Levi thought that Eren was trying to let go, so he opened his hand. Instead of taking his hand away, Eren slid his fingers in between Levi’s and squeezed his hand. He looked at Levi and smiled, and the slipping raven couldn’t help but smile back.

“Why don’t we sit down for a bit? We have been walking for over an hour.” As fun as it was, Levi would rather sit on the pavilions with Eren than keep walking. Besides, his legs were still a bit sore   
Plus, if they are sitting, there is a chance that Eren might ask if he’s allowed to put his arm around him.

“How about we go sit by that tree?” Eren suggested and pointed to a tree surrounded by grass where their path ends. If they wanted to keep walking, they would have to go down a set of stairs similar to the one the climbed out before.

Levi judged how far away the tree was before agreeing. “Is this anything like you had hoped it would be?” Levi asked as they neared the tree. “I’m having fun and that was all I had hoped for.” Eren smiled. “And I’m getting to know you like I wanted. All things considered, I’d say this is going well.” Eren gave Levi’s hand a small squeeze.

“What about you? Are you at least enjoying it more than sitting in your room?” Levi smiled a bit. “Give yourself some credit, you are not all that bad.” Eren smiled as well. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Levi leaned into Eren to bump him with his shoulder. “You are supposed to.” Levi discovered that he quite liked making Eren smile like that.

The young couple stepped off of the stoned path once they reached the end and walked across the grass to the tree. “Hey, what’s that?” Levi asked when he spotted something by the base of the tree. As they moved closer, Levi recognized it as a zipped up bag waiting for them in the shade. “Who do you think it belongs to?” Levi asked and Eren released his hand to go sit down next to the bag. “Mine.” Eren zipped it open and reached into the bag.

Levi frowned a bit. “Yours?” Eren nodded and pulled out a bottle of water which he offered to Levi. “How did it get here?” Levi asked while taking the bottle. “I asked Gecko where a good place to sit would be and he brought me here this morning so that I would know where it is. I decided to pack our lunch and come put it here instead of carrying it with us all the way to here.” So they were having lunch after all. Eren really did think of everything.

Levi was impressed by how thoroughly Eren had planned everything out. He felt unprepared, even though there was nothing he could have done to prepare. Farlan would never treat him this way. He ignored that thought.

“I had to ask the kitchen staff for a big favor so that they would give me our lunches with breakfast, but when the lady in charge heard that it was for a date, well… She gave me a bunch of extra things.” Eren pulled out two plastic containers and handed Levi one. Levi put the bottle of water that Eren must have gotten from the tuck shop down next to him after taking a sip and took the container that Eren was holding out to him. Eren held his own on his lap and waited for Levi to open his own.

When Levi pulled the lid off of the small container, his favorite school food was revealed: A hamburger. He smiled and looked at Eren. “Hamburgers?” Eren opened his own container. “I hoped that you would like them. When I heard that this is what was for lunch, I couldn’t wait to eat one.” Levi lifted his burger out of his container and opened his mouth wide to take a proper bite. He heard Eren chuckle softly before the brunette took a bite as well.

As the two peacefully ate their burgers under the shade of the green tree, there was nothing for Levi to complain about except for the bag between them. As he took another big bite of his burger, he cursed himself for not sitting next to Eren when he had the chance.

“I thought it would be tough moving to a dorm.” Eren randomly stated and Levi wondered if Eren enjoyed their pointless conversations as much as he did. “But it’s not bad. Everyone is very nice.” They finished eating their burgers and then looked at what else Eren had put in his bag. There were two chocolate bars, two more bottles of water, four fruits, a container full of the sandwiches made for breakfast, a few napkins and some gum. They opened the chocolate bars while Levi thought of how to get next to Eren without looking obvious.

Levi was enjoying the date more than he had expected to – and would later feel bad butterflies thinking about that realization – but he didn’t want to give Eren the idea that he was flirting back. He should keep things as they were so that he could later say he was just being nice. It would be easier that way. He should know better than to give either of them the idea that dating might just work.

Besides, he didn’t like Eren. He liked the attention. What else could it be?

While the attention was still all his to absorb, even if it’s just for a few hours, Levi was going to make the best of it. He looked behind him to see how far away from the tree they were sitting. Then he took a last sip of his water, dropped the half full bottle back in the bag and moved back until he could lean against the trunk of the tree. Eren looked at him when he noticed him moving and, when he realized what Levi was doing, moved back to do the same.

Leaning against the tree, they were side by side again and looking out over the sport grounds they had waked around. Levi picked up a small twig that was lying near him and fiddled with it in his lap. Eren watched him snap the twig a few times before opening his hand and holding it out to Levi; a silent request. Levi put his hand on Eren’s wrist and watched his fingers slide in between Eren’s again.

“Do you want to hear something funny?” Levi looked at Eren, looked at how the brunette leaned against the rough bark of the tree with his head tilted back, looked at how at peace he looked with his eyes closed and their joined hands resting innocently on his thigh. “Always.” Levi replied softly.

“When I was a kid, I had this doggie toy that would bark and shuffle around. It was my favorite toy, because it was the closest thing to a dog my mom allowed us to get. It had a button in its ear you had to press tom turn it on and off. One day we visited someone that had a small, fluffy dog that looked exactly like my toy and I thought that it worked the way the toy did as well. So, when I tried holding it and it kept on jumping off of my lap, I ran after it to try and press the ‘off button’ in its ear. When I later finally managed to press the dog’s ear and it didn’t stop moving, I started crying. I thought something was wrong with my toy doggie, so when we got home, I spent the rest of the day trying to train my toy not to go off when I pressed the button in its ear.”

Levi chuckled softly. The story was so sweet and innocent, but also a personal memory and Levi enjoyed being the one that got to listen to it. He decided that it was only fair to share a memory in return.

“My gran bought me a little box for bug catching the Christmas I turned five. It was shaped like a little house at the front and the back that were made out of wood along with the base, but the rest was a fine net so that you can put bugs I through the little opening door and then look at them. I absolutely loved it. I caught a lot of different bugs and kept them in there, but the one night I didn’t close the door once I was done. The next morning, when my mom went to go get it for me, this big garden spider had climbed in there. She screamed when she saw it and I cried when I did. Not because I was afraid of spiders, but because he ate all my little ‘buggie-besties’. My dad came to check it out and told me I should be happy that I caught such a big spider. I got all excited and carried the sealed box – My dad put a small nail through the door – around all day to show it to everyone.”

This time Eren laughed a bit at Levi’s story. Levi wasn’t sure how long they sat in the shade of the tree and sharing any stories that came to mind, but by the time they started packing up and slowly walking back to the dorm, it was already late afternoon.

Eren walked Levi all the way back to his room before thanking him for the wonderful day and saying goodbye. Levi slowly closed the door once Eren left and smiled at the wooden thing. “How did it go?” Patches asked from behind Levi, startling him. “It was fine… Not a total waste of a Saturday.” Patches hummed and that was it.

Sunday a few guys were asked to help move desks in the school and a big group decided to go to town, so the dorm was exceptionally quiet. Levi spent most of the day in Jean’s room doing his homework until his two friends got back from their weekend at home. When Levi heard the buses arriving, he straightened out the bed he was sitting on so that it didn’t look like he messed anything up before heading outside.

Jean was the first one he spotted, coming from the car parking along with a few other kids, and once he had gotten his bag from the trunk and kissed his mom goodbye, the two of them walked towards the buses and looked for Farlan together. “Did you have fun this weekend?” Jean asked and Levi smiled. “Yeah. We, uhm, we’re going to Scoops next week.” Jean grinned. “Did he bribe you with milkshakes?” Levi’s laugh was all the answer he needed. After they found Farlan, Levi carried Jean’s laptop bag as the three of them walked up to Jean and Farlan’s room. He then sat cross-legged on Farlan’s bed while the other two packed their things out.

“So.” Farlan hopped onto his bed and stretched out on it. Levi moved his legs so that they were over Farlan’s. “How did the date go?” Jean closed his locker and climbed onto Farlan’s bed to sit next to Levi. They both waited for him to say something.

“It was… fine, I guess.” Levi lied. It was much more than fine, but he didn’t need his friends thinking it was a big deal. As long as only he knew it was incredible, he would be able to ignore that it was. “It’s not like it was a bad date; nothing went terribly wrong.” They both kept looking at him. “What?” Jean nudged Levi with his elbow. “You have to give us more than that, man! What did you guys end up doing?” Levi smiled a bit as he looked at Jean. “We walked around the sport field and had a picnic, that’s all. We just talked and ate burgers.” Jean mouthed ‘Right’ at him and Levi rolled his eyes. “You guys are making such a big deal out of it.”

Farlan asked what they talked about and Levi mentioned a few topics without going into much detail. While he was talking, Connor knocked on the half open door and came in. He greeted Farlan and Jean before turning his attention to Levi.

“Where were you yesterday, dude? I came looking for you after lunch, but I didn’t see you again until dinner and by then my roomie was back.” Levi remembered that he had told Connor that he would see him after lunch. He had completely forgotten. “Shit, sorry man, I was out with Eren.” Connor chuckled and shook his head. “Greenie really took his time with you, didn’t he? Anyways, gotta go. I’ll catch you in the week.” Levi muttered a ‘Did not do that’ while the other two greeted Connor again.

Farlan pushed up onto his elbows and looked at Levi. “You didn’t mention that you were out with him all day.” Levi shrugged. “He’s a cool guy. We hung out. It beats sitting around with Patches.” Farlan kept looking at him like he had done something wrong. “We didn’t do anything.” Levi couldn’t explain why he felt the need to add that.

“You aren’t the only one that got to go on a date.” Jean said after a beat of silence. “I took that girl at home I’m always telling you guys about to the movies with me.” Levi turned his head to look at Jean. “Nice man. How did it go?” Jean beamed. “It was perfect. She wore this cute pink flowery dress and her hair down. She cleans up real nice...” Levi smiled a bit. “I smell an ‘and’.” Jean’s smile morphed into a grin, “And we totally made out at the back of the theater.” Farlan smiled. “Niiiice.” He held out his hand and Farlan gave him a low-five. “She’s great, guys. Really. I can’t wait for next weekend.”

The three boys hung out like that in the room until it was dinner time. Since it was dark out, the three of them sat at one of the tables inside the cafeteria while they ate their food. Levi sat with Farlan next to him and Jean across from him. He was listening to more details of Jean’s weekend when he spotted Eren stepping away from the food counter with his full plate.

When he saw Eren, he sat up a bit straighter. Farlan didn’t think much of it until he also looked up and saw Eren who had now clearly spotted them as well. The brunette started making his way over to them from the food counter with a small smile drifting on his lips.

“Levi.” He hummed to show that he was listening. He felt his friend’s warm arm wrap around his middle and pull him a bit closer to himself. Farlan’s hold felt ever so familiar. “Friday was fun.” Levi looked at Eren to make sure he was still heading towards them. He wasn’t really listening to Farlan. “I want us to do something like that again.” Farlan leaned in and pressed a few kisses behind Levi’s ear. He automatically tilted his head to the side and saw Eren’s expression sadden a bit. the brunette changed his direction and sat down with Armin.

The raven let out a soft sigh and turned his attention to Farlan. “Sure… tomorrow?” Farlan pulled back and nodded “I’ll come by after dinner. Mind if I pick up your earphones while I’m there? I forgot mine at home.” Levi nodded. Farlan finally retracted his hands and continued eating. Levi looked at Jean that wasn’t really paying attention to them as he kept eating.

For a brief moment he wondered if their indiscreet actions were to Jean how Brandon’s snoring was to him; always there, but not worth noticing any more.


	5. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farlan isn't about to stop messing in, but tries his best to take charge of the situation.

The summer heat that made the classrooms stuffy and humid during the day rolled into the night and warmed the dorms enough that one barely needed a single sheet to stay warm. If Levi had been sleeping alone, he would have kicked his blanket down to the foot of his bed and spread out over the mattress to cool down, because he was stuck with long PJ pants for the term. He would have, but he knew Farlan didn't like that.

Farlan's hand had been placed on Levi's middle when they started spooning, but now it was slowly moving along Levi's waistband. "What are you doing?" Levi whispered as quietly as he could. "I can't sleep." Farlan answered and slid his hand in under Levi's waistband. "Put your leg up." Farlan whispered into Levi's ear. Levi was tired and knew he would be even worse off in the morning, but he put up his leg in any ways, turning it so that his right foot was flat on the bed. Farlan could now easily slide two of his wandering fingers into him and he turned his head to bite into the pillow. You should refrain from going in dry, and he has told him that once or twice before, but Farlan probably just forgot, so Levi bared with the discomfort until it got better.

Levi pressed his lips together when a third finger started working on stretching him. He opened his eyes and stared blindly into the dark room until his eyes adjusted enough for him to start recognizing shapes. The desk, the lockers, Jean. He looked at his sleeping friend lying on his back with his right arm hanging off of the bed. Jean looked so peaceful and Levi felt a little guilty for doing what he was doing while Jean was in the room.

"Hey." Farlan pressed a kiss to Levi's cheek and pulled his fingers out. Levi turned his head to look at Farlan who then pressed on his shoulder so that he would turn onto his back. Levi made himself comfortable and Farlan worked on getting them both out of their underwear while climbing over Levi.

Before Farlan could line up, Levi reached down and wrapped his hand around his slightly skew shaft. He gave it a few pumps, making sure there was enough precome to spread around before doing the lining up himself. Farlan adjusted Levi's legs around his hips and leaned over him onto his elbows before starting to push in. Levi bit his lip, trying to stay as quiet as possible when Farlan started thrusting.

Everything felt as if it was a dozen times louder in the stillness of the night; the rustling of sheets, the skin moving on skin, the skin lightly slapping against skin. Levi turned his head to his left and could just barely make out the silhouette of Jean's sleeping form.

Jean's back was to them. Had he turned around? Was he awake? Levi reached for the sheet slowly slipping down Farlan's back and pulled it back up to Farlan's shoulders. Farlan shrugged, trying to push the sheets back again, but Levi refused to let them go.

It seemed like an eternity of rocking with Farlan's thrusts and trying to hold back his gasps before Levi heard Farlan sigh and whisper, "I'm close..." Levi gave a small nod and reached down between them, ready to finish Farlan off with his hands. "I don't want to get up, so don't..." Farlan sped up a bit and Levi tapped his hand against Farlan's stomach. "Come on..." Farlan shook his head. "Don't want to finish like that." Levi frowned. "But –" He bit his lip and arched a bit off of the bed. Farlan gave a few more thrusts at the new angle he had just discovered and hit that sensitive spot in Levi that left him breathless a few times before they both climaxed.

Farlan collapsed on top of Levi and started catching his breath. Levi rolled him off of himself and got out of the bed. "Where are you going?" The blonde asked in a whisper and Levi glared at him. "To clean up." He used a tissue from the box conveniently near the bed and wiped his own release from his stomach. He then pulled on his underwear, picked up his PJ bottoms and quietly left the room.

He wasn't really mad at Farlan; he was mad at himself. He was mad at the realization that their relationship is still one sided after he allowed himself to think there was something more. He was mad at himself for still holding onto that childish hope. He was also mad at himself for reading so much into something as stupid as Farlan being too out of it in a moment to really consider what he was asking. It was nothing serious, after all.

"That was a dick move, Blondie." Jean said after a moment of silence. Farlan huffed softly and turned his head to look at Jean's back. "I'll make it up to him tomorrow. It's fine." He closed his eyes to go back to sleep. "Yeah, whatever." Jean stood up. "Hey, where are you going?" Farlan asked while watching Jean put on some sock. "I'm going to go check on Levi." Farlan pushed up onto his elbow to look at Jean. "I told you, he's fine." he said defensively.

Jean stopped to look right back at Farlan. "You're fucking him up, man. Don't be surprised if he ends up with Eren if you keep pulling stunts like that." Farlan frowned at him. "Dude, it's no big deal. And besides," Farlan ran his hand through his hair and swallowed. It might have been a trick of light that made Farlan look uncertain for a moment. "The thing with Greenie is over." Jean opened the door. "When why are they going out again this weekend?" He closed the door and walked down the hall towards the bathroom. Farlan huffed and fell back onto his bed.

Jean blinked a few times as he neared the bathroom, the bright white of the florescent lights spilling into the hallway and stinging his eyes. He didn't go in, but decided to sit by the bathroom entrance until Levi finished up. He heard a soft sigh or two and hated Farlan for being such a jerk. He was a pretty cool guy until it came to Levi and it pissed him off that he couldn't just ask why.

Why Levi allowed himself to be used by Farlan like that and why he kept giving him the idea that it's okay to treat that way. He knew, if it had been any other hookup, Levi would have sent them to hell, but he didn't. Because it was Farlan. He wished to understand it, but doubted that Levi even understood it himself.

When Levi finished in the bathroom, he came out and, when he saw Jean, sat down next to him. "Can't sleep either, huh?" Jean asked softly and Levi hummed. "You can go back to bed. I'm fine." Levi didn't have to turn to face Jean to know what sad expression he was wearing. They sat together in silence for a moment before Jean spoke again. "Hey, my roommate it being an ass. Mind if I crash with you for the night?" Levi smiled a bit. "Sure. But my roommate snores, so be warned."

Jean got up and extended his hand to Levi to help him up. The two of them walked to Levis room and climbed into his bed. They didn't curl up together the way Levi did with Farlan, but Levi still felt better just knowing that someone else was there. Jean waited until Levi fell asleep before silently going back to his own room. Patches really did snore.

The next morning was as normal as any other. They have been back at school for a month now and everyone was back in routine. Levi woke up to Patches pulling his sheets off of him, went downstairs for breakfast with Jean, brushed his teeth, walked to the school with his two friends and started his classes. The day seemed to drag on forever because Levi was running low on sleep. When lunch came, Levi nominated Jean to get lunch for him so that he could go lay down on the grass instead of stand in line.

"You look like death warmed up." Levi opened his eyes to see Eren sitting next to him with a plate of food. "I see you're set on flattering me today." Levi said sarcastically and Eren laughed softly. "I'm so tired. I almost fell asleep in Geography." Levi confessed and Eren laughed again. "You were pretty close to nodding off in Math class as well." Levi waved it off. "I'm good at the stuff we're doing now, so I'm not worried about it." Eren finished eating the bite he took before talking again.

"In that case, are you free tonight? I need some help with that worksheet we have to do for tomorrow and Armin has to study for an AP test." Levi does vaguely remember something about a worksheet. "Yeah. Come to my room after dinner and I'll help you out." Eren nodded. "Thanks. Do you want something more comfortable to lie on?" Levi nodded and Eren moved closer so that Levi could rest his head on his thigh instead of trying to make himself comfortable with his arms under his head.

"You look comfortable." Farlan commented when he arrived with Jean and their food. "Mhmm... Eren has amazing thighs." The brunette snorted. "In a straight way." Farlan snorted. "Mouse, you aren't straight enough to use a normal ruler." Levi sat up and Jean handed him his plate. "I love my bendy ruler and I stand by it." They laughed a bit and started eating.

"My turn to take the plates." Eren announced once they were all done and collected the empty plates. "We'll wait here for you." Jean promised and laid down next to Levi who had bundled his blazer up into a pillow to lay down again. "I wouldn't mind staying here all day." Jean said and Levi hummed. Farlan turned and laid down as well, resting his head on Levi's stomach. Levi slid one hand into Farlan's hair and absentmindedly played with it. Farlan moved his arm to hold Levi's other hand

The bell signaled the end of lunch, but the three of them didn't move until Eren came back. When he did, they pushed themselves up and dragged their feet back to school. Eren wondered what the three were up to the previous night that had them so tired. They mumbled something about the humidity and heat.

Levi went to the gym with Jean that afternoon. After meeting up with the gym teacher on Friday, Jean had started a new program and Levi adjusted his own to keep up with him. It was tough, but the workout was fun and the two of them had worked up a decent sweat by the time they decided to wrap up for the day. Since the gym showers were crowded, Levi and Jean walked back to the dorm to shower.

They went their separate ways to get their towels and met again in the bathroom. They took two showers next to each other and talked about whatever junk came to mind while washing all the sweat off. "So... Did Blondie say anything to you today?" Jean asked while rinsing his hair off. Levi had just turned off his water. "We talked a lot, but not about anything important. But it's not like I was expecting anything from him. If it were a big deal, then yeah, but he was just being an asshole."

Levi reached for his towel and dried himself off. A few moments later, Jean turned his water off as well and they got dressed together. "You are allowed to give him shit for it, you know." Jean reminded his short friend. "And there isn't a rule that says you can't ditch him." Levi chuckled softly. "He'd miss me too much."

Levi passed the time before dinner by doing his homework and hanging out with his friends. Jean went to the bathroom at one point and met Eren along the way. Levi and Farlan used the time they were alone to make out a bit.

'You suck at biology.' Farlan teased.

'Yeah, and your face sucks.' Levi teased back.

'The only thing my face sucks is your face, babe.' Farlan said in a teasing tone. Levi's heart fluttered.

'Then what is your face doing at the other side of the room?'

"Hey, look who I found." Jean announced before he walked into the room with Eren on his tail. Levi appreciated the warning that gave him the time needed to shift off of Farlan's lap. "Hey Eren." They both greeted and Eren greeted them back before joining them on the bed. They moved so that all four of them could fit on the single bed.

"How long is it until dinner?" Jean asked and Levi checked on his watch. "About an hour." Jean stood up. "Then how about we play something?" He opened up his locker and looked around until he found a pack of cards. He threw it onto the bed and sat down again. "Do you know how to play poker?" He asked Eren, who shook his head.

Jean threw his arm around Eren's shoulders. "Don't worry about it, Greenie. We'll help you out." Farlan picked up the pack of cards, took them out of the box and started shuffling them. "Or we could play Bullshit. Give Eren a chance to practice his poker face before he needs it." Levi nodded. "Yeah, we can do that. But only if we play Snap afterwards."

The three of them started playing cards and had a lot of fun. Out of the group, Jean definitely had the worst poker face and Levi had the best by far. Eren wasn't too bad either. "So where did you learn your poker face, Greenie?" Jean asked as they walked down to the cafeteria for dinner. Eren smiled. "Probably in every class where I told the teacher 'I did my project, but forgot to pack it in'. But what I want to know is where Levi learned to have such an awesome poker face." Levi shrugged. "There's no trick to it." Farlan laughed a bit. "There has to be one. Come on, tell us." Levi smiled a bit. "Believe what you want to, I'm just good." The group laughed softly.

Levi was having a great time. Eren was spending more and more time with his group and they were all getting along. The group chatter further over the homemade pizza they were served for dinner. "There is no way you benched that much." Eren said in disbelief when Jean was telling them about his gym achievements. "It's true." Levi said and Eren looked at him. "But I'd still whip his ass if we were to go one on one."

Jean whined. "That's not fair, you have your size to your advantage." Farlan decided to add that Eren could probably take him down as well. "Aren't friends supposed to be nice to each other?" Jean asked accusingly before taking a bite of his pizza. "No, they're supposed to tease each other. Because, deep down, we're all assholes." Eren answered. "Touché."

"Plates everyone." Farlan said once everyone was finished and stood up to collect their plates. "I want seconds, so I'm going to come with you." Eren said, standing up as well. Farlan nodded and the two of them headed to the side where they had to drop off the plates.

"I hear you two have another date this weekend." Farlan said casually while he moved towards the seconds line with Eren. The brunette smiled. "Yeah... I'm pretty happy about it. I didn't ever think Levi would be the one to suggest going out again." Farlan hadn't known that and it pissed him off that neither Levi or Jean had thought to tell him. Wasn't he the first person that should know if Levi wanted to get serious with someone?

"Well, you better call it off." he said before he could stop himself. Eren frowned at him and put the plate down so that the person behind the counter could dish up more pizza for him. "Why the hell would I do that?" Farlan took a deep breath and put his hand on Eren's shoulder.

"I'm trying to give you a heads up, Eren. Levi is the type of guy that feels like he has to suggest a second date, but was probably hoping you would turn it down. And it's no fun going on a pity date with someone that doesn't really want to be there." Eren took a moment to process. "Oh... Okay, thanks."

"I'll keep hanging out with him, though. He's really cool. And he might be interested at another time." Farlan shrugged. "There's no harm in hoping, but I'd tone down the flirting for now if I were you." Eren nodded and the two of them started walked back to the table.

Farlan suggested they stop by the extras table and get something to drink. "By the way, what are you two?" Eren asked. It bothered him that he didn't know, because he felt like their relationship was the reason Levi would be pushing him back. Farlan looked at the cup he was filling and debated how he should answer the brunette.

"Nothing. Just close friends. We hook up a lot; I've been seeing him in that sense since sixth grade." Eren looked at him with wide eyes. "Sixth grade?" Farlan shrugged. "We didn't start doing anything hectic until high school." Eren nodded slowly and started filling his own cup now that Farlan was done filling his own. "I'm guessing you two are very close." Farlan hummed and turned to look at Levi and Jean chatting at the table. "Something like that."

Once they were done with dinner, Eren excused himself to go to his room. "Hey, do you still want help with that math sheet?" Levi asked when Eren stood up to leave, standing up as well. The raven almost wanted to ask the brunette what was wrong, but decided against it. "No, I think I can do it. Thank you, though. Maybe another time." Levi sat back down. "Okay... See you tomorrow, then." Eren nodded and greeted the group. "Well, speaking of which, I still have homework to do. See you guys later." Jean stood up and headed up to his room.

"Do you still have stuff to do?" Farlan asked now that he was alone with Levi again. "Nope. Well, except for the thing I was going to help Eren with, but I can always do that in the test period tomorrow." Farlan stood up. "Then let's go chill somewhere else. Is your room okay?" Levi nodded and accepted Farlan's outstretched hand to pull himself up. "Patches is hanging out with his Engineering and Design group to do a project, so he won't be there unless he decided to bring the group to our room." The two of them started walking up to Levi's room.

Halfway there, Farlan reached out to take Levi's hand. The raven was a little surprised and looked at their hands. "Are you mad at me?" Farlan asked softly while they were walking up the empty stairs. Levi sighed quietly and considered what he should answer. "No." He laced their fingers and decided to trust Jean's advice a bit. "But that was really not cool, Farlan."

The blonde looked at Levi a little surprised, but nodded still. "I guess not. But you still enjoyed it, right?" No. "It was fine." Farlan pressed his lips together, clearly not used to the way Levi was responding. "What, did you want to be on top or something?" Farlan untangled their fingers and waited for Levi to open his room door. Levi didn't answer and went into his room.

"Hey, come on." Farlan closed the door behind him. "What's with you?" Levi plopped down onto his bed and kicked his shoes off. "Nothing. You just didn't 'rock my world'." Farlan climbed onto the bed and crawled over Levi, making him lay back on his bed. "Then what will? I thought you liked it whenever we did something."

Levi turned his head to the side. "Yeah, but..." Farlan frowned. "But what?" Levi didn't respond at first, but Farlan didn't back off. "But you don't give a shit about what I'd like. I mean, even Pete does that." Farlan sighed. "You just said that you weren't mad about that." Now Levi frowned as well. "And I'm not, I'm ju-" Farlan cut him off. "Then did you do it with Pete? Is that why you're being such an ass about it? What, do you think he's cooler just because he's older?"

"No, for Christ's sake, Farlan. I didn't do it with Pete." He wished he didn't feel like he had to make that clear. "But when it comes to doing things, you're... pretty selfish, okay? When was the last time we did something just because I like it?"

"That's what you want?" Levi felt like shrinking because of how Farlan was looking at him. "Well, then fine. Turn around." Farlan sat back on his knees. "Far-" The blonde sighed. "Oh my god, Levi. Turn around." The raven remained quiet and turned around as he was instructed to do. He felt Farlan's hands rub up and down his sides before his pants were being pulled down. He lifted his hips to help get them off easier. Farlan pulled his hips up and Levi got onto his knees. He pressed his cheek into his pillow and waited.

Farlan rubbed and squeezed Levi's cheeks before spreading them to probe at his entrance with his fingertips. Levi fought it at first, but later allowed a soft hum to escape him. When Farlan heard that, he leaned in and breathed over Levi's sensitive skin. He reached around to slide his fingers into Levi's mouth, making the raven blush. He then pulled them back and slowly started pushing one into Levi. "Mmnh..." Levi hugged the pillow in front of him when Farlan started moving his finger. When a second one was finally worked in, Levi started rocking back on Farlan's fingers. "Ah, ah..." He bit the pillow and moaned into it.

"How are you feeling? Good?" Levi nodded. Another moan leaped from his throat when one of Farlan's fingers pressed that spot between his entrance and balls. "Oh fuck, oh fuck-!" Farlan pressed a kiss to Levi's lower back and continued working his fingers in deeper to try and find Levi's prostate.

When he found it, Farlan wasn't all too sure what to do with the spot, but simply touching it seemed to work for Levi, so he continued rubbing it and thrusting his fingers into it until Levi's thighs were quivering. Levi hugged the pillow even tighter and moaned more and more the closer he got. When he was just about there, he reached down with one hand and quickly pumped himself to push himself over the edge.

With a loud cry, Levi spilled onto the pillow beneath him. He shivered with the intensity of his orgasm and moaned weakly when Farlan pulled out his fingers. The blonde found it kind of boring to get Levi off like that, so he was thankful when he saw a chance to escape. "I'll let you clean up..." He wiped his fingers on Levi's pants and pressed another kiss to Levi's lower back, right between his back dimples, and got up to leave the room. "Mmnh, bye..." Levi rolled onto his side, avoiding the dirty pillow, and pulled his shirt down so that he wasn't laying fully exposed.

\-----

Eren had excused himself once he had finished his dinner. While eating his seconds, he had started thinking about what Farlan had said to him and the more he did, the less it made sense. Levi wasn't the type of person to do something because he felt obligated to do it and neither did it seem forced when he had suggested they go get milkshakes together. In the contrary, it seemed natural to him. He wasn't an expert at reading people, but from what he had gathered when they were together on Saturday, Levi at least seemed to enjoy his company.

They had a lot of fun, even though they were spending their time at school, and Levi didn't mind staying out with him all day, even though he had plenty opportunities to say he wanted to go back to the dorm. And he could have sworn Levi was starting to get more comfortable with him. Why would he be pretending?

Perhaps he had been too pushy with asking Levi out, the very thing he thought was making it fun, and now Levi simply went along with it, because he thought Eren would start pestering again if he didn't. With that thought, Eren wasn't very eager to spend the rest of the evening with Levi, especially not to have him help him with homework.

So, after dinner, Eren went back to his room and started trying to figure out the worksheet he had to hand in the following day. It was a revision exercise and it had a bit of everything in it. Eren spent more time looking for how to do the equations in his study guide than actually doing the equations.

By the time he reached the fourth equation, his roommate, Gecko, and two of his friends showed up and started hanging out in the room. Eren didn't pay them much mind initially, because the three boys weren't too loud and stayed on Gecko's side of the room. Eren contemplated getting out his earphones and listening to music, but concluded that doing that would just distract him and he would never finish his homework. He still had an essay to get started on.

Eren listened to the three boys talking with half an ear and managed to figured out that the other two were named Jacques and Razor. Eren figured 'Razor' was an ironic nickname, because the boy has clearly never needed to shave in his life. The three of them had eventually settled down on Gecko's bed and started talking about all things typical to talk about.

Unfortunately for Eren, one of those topics was hookups. And it was hard to remain focused on his worksheet when Levi's name came up.

"When was the last time you got it on with Levi?" Eren accidentally made a scribble on his page and looked up at the three sitting across from him. None of them were looking at him, though. "Last week, before the big game where I almost got knocked out." Eren was thankful that it was Jacques that answered and not Gecko.

"What did you guys end up doing?" Eren looked down at his page again. "I got to do him in the locker room. Sucks to do it on the floor, but no matter where he is, he's good." Eren tried to focus on the trig equation, tried really hard to remember the special angles. "Must be true if everyone's saying it." Razor commented and the other two hummed in agreement.

"Hey, do you guys think he's still seeing Pete?" Eren wished they would stop talking. "I saw them making out in front of the dorm last week. And I heard Pete also bunked assembly on Monday." Jacques leaned in more. "During assembly? Where do you think they did that? The teachers always check the bathrooms and dorms after assembly has started." Gecko shrugged. "Some classes aren't always locked. Plus, Pete's a senior. He usually gets away with everything. Even smoking in his dorm."

Eren told himself to finish the last equation before leaving the room, but staying was almost unbearable. "I'm not even sure if Farlan knows about Pete. I doubt he'd be surprised, but after the girl he asked to the Senior Ball last year ended up going with Pete, Farlan's had a problem with him."

"And I doubt Levi knows about that. Think they'll break up if Farlan finds out?" Jacques shook his head. "Blondie would never give up because of something like that. Levi's an easy lay that's always nearby and he'd be a moron to give up his VIP card because he's jealous. He'd rather just convince Levi to stay away from him." Razor agreed. "Plus Levi would never drop Farlan. He's kind of his point zero, so no matter what shit goes down, he'll always go back to him." Gecko sighed. "I don't even know if they're together or not. They both swear they're not dating, but they're not just friends either." Razor shrugged. "Friends with benefits?" Jacques chuckled. "No, that's a normal friend according to Levi."

Eren stuffed his books back into his schoolbag and hastily pulled his shoes on. Gecko noticed this and then remembered that they were talking about Eren's date. He knew the realization came a little too late. "Are we bothering you, Greenie?" The other two also looked at Eren and decided not to mention that he didn't look all that comfortable. "No, you guys can stay here. I... just want to go get some coffee." He pulled a thick sweater from his locker and tied it around his waist. He was considering sitting outside and didn't want to have to come all the way back to his room if it's cold.

Just before Eren closed the door behind him, Razor said a soft 'Sorry...', because he had also heard of their date. Eren didn't stop to acknowledge it.

Once he was outside of the room, he didn't know what exactly he should do with himself, but he didn't have to ponder long, because soon enough his shoes lead him to Levi's room. When he arrived, he wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to know how much of what he had heard was true, but it wouldn't feel right asking Levi about it. What he did have to do, regardless of how awkward it might be, is ask Levi if they were actually going to go get milkshakes the upcoming weekend. He'd rather know now than wonder about it all week long, and make all sorts of assumptions that could be miles from the truth.

When he was five steps from Levi's room, the door opened, and Eren walked a little faster to meet Levi by the door, but instead found Farlan stepping out from behind it. He blonde looked at him and gave him a small smile. "You're the last person I expected to see coming around for favors." Eren didn't answer, he didn't know how to. "Well, I guess you take what you can get, right?" Farlan said over his shoulder as he walked off with his hands in his pocket.

He should not have been so surprised at seeing Farlan, he knew the blonde was basically joined to Levi by the hip. When Farlan had left, he left the door ajar, so Eren pulled open the door and went in. When he stepped in, Levi looked up with a hopeful expression that evaporated the second he recognized who it was. He quickly looked down at his lap and pulled the front of his shirt down so that he wasn't fully exposed to the brunette.

Levi looked so small and embarrassed where he sat on the edge of the bed with his cheeks flushed and hands in his lap. Eren truly felt for him. Had he been Farlan, he would never have left Levi alone the way he was. He definitely wouldn't have been smiling as if he had won something, especially since Eren thought he had lost what could have been a sweet moment. If only he had seen the look on Levi's face when he was expecting him.

Instead, Eren wordlessly got to look at Levi's embarrassment. A principle Eren lived by, was that you don't say anything when someone else is embarrassed. So, without a word, Eren slowly walked closer to Levi and unwound the red sweater from his middle. He stopped a step away from him and carefully draped the sweater over Levi's shoulders. He ignored the pillow that would have made it obvious what Farlan was doing in Levi's room with him and turned to walk back out.

Levi pulled the warm sweater over himself once Eren had turned around. It was a sweater that was big on Eren, so when Levi put it on, it hung midway down his thighs. "Thank you, Eren... I'm sorry that you had to see that." This time, the brunette did stop by the door to acknowledge what was being said to him. "Please don't think you need to apologize." He shut the door behind him and Levi curled up on his bed. Levi couldn't imagine what Eren was thinking, but Eren didn't know what he was thinking either.

He was irritated with Farlan. For various reasons. The blonde was cocky and rude at times. He was unfair to Levi. He was stringing Levi along; that he was sure of. He embarrasses Levi, and this wasn't the first time Eren has seen it. He must have been lying when Eren asked him about his relationship with Levi. But if they had a relationship, why was he going to such extremes to prove that they did not have one? Was it because of him; did Farlan not want him near? Then why would he invite him to hang out with them in the first place?

Eren was upset, and he couldn't pick a reason why. He wanted to be mad at Levi, because he was either messing around with one of them or indecisive, but Eren couldn't bring himself to do that, not when he couldn't help but see Levi as the victim. He went back to his room and started looking for his earphones when he saw that Gecko's friends were still there. He climbed into bed and listened to music so that he didn't have to listen to the others talking.

He didn't want to see or hear anything else. He wanted to understand the situation he had gotten himself into, but didn't even know where to start. The others left shortly after Eren went to bed, and the brunet was thankful for it.

Levi threw the pillow cover in his washing basket and crawled in under his sheets. He tried to do what he usually did, try not to think about anything that makes him feel uneasy and forget about it, but it didn't work this time. "Are you doing okay under there?" Patches asked when he arrived at the room. Levi's response was barely a nod. Something uneasy kept bubbling up in him and he tried pinpointing where it was coming from.

He had sorted everything out with Farlan, so it shouldn't be that. It had to be Eren. He had left dinner with a weird attitude and then gave him his sweater without saying anything other than he shouldn't be sorry. Levi interpreted those words in a million different ways, but none of them seemed right. Eren must be hurt and too good to show it; that was his conclusion and it made him feel too guilty for words. Yet he hasn't done anything besides giving him false hope. Was if false hope? He didn't know himself.

But Levi of all people knew how paralyzing hope could be and knew that he had to live up to the expectations he had set or slash those hopes while he still had the chance. He was starting to worry that it has been slashed for him.

Levi avoided everyone the next day with the naive hope that doing so would give the air time to clear itself. He used the excuse of an upcoming test to camp out in the library and do some reading or listen to some music. After school, he went up to his room to do his homework before going around to the back of the dorm to do his washing. He used an extra swipe on his card to wash Eren's sweater alone while he put his other things in the dryer. He had heard once that it was better to allow a sweater to dry naturally, so he hung it up on the single washing line outside so that the sun could dry it.

He did join his friends for dinner and that's when he found out that Eren had been avoiding them all day as well. Apparently he was spending his time with Armin. Levi played it off like he didn't care much. After dinner, Levi went outside to fetch Eren's now dry sweater and carried it back inside. He went up to his room to carefully fold the sweater before carrying it over to Eren's room.

A nervous hand knocked on the door. Levi waited for Eren to answer the door. Gecko did. "Hey, where's Eren?" Gecko leaned against the walkway. He looked a bit uncomfortable. "He's chilling outside. Why are you looking for him?" Levi shrugged. "Just wanted to give his sweater back." Gecko seemed to relax. "Okay. You can leave it here if you want to." Levi started to walk away. "I'd rather give it to him, make sure he knows I brought it back."

Levi walked down the stairs until he arrived in the cafeteria. A few boys were staggering around, either helping themselves to some coffee or sitting in small groups and discussing meaningless things to pass the time until lights out. Levi was greeted by one or two as he passed by the groups to get to the door leading outside.

The fresh air was chilly when Levi stepped outside and it was quiet compared to the soft buzzing of voices inside. He listened to the door fall shut behind him before looking around. He found Eren almost immediately. The brunet was sitting just to the side, on the grass they usually sat at break. There were a few other people outside as well, walking around or playing on the field, but they were all at a distance from where Levi was.

He cleared his throat. "Hey." Eren looked up at Levi as he neared him. "Hi." Eren smiled a bit. "Mind if I take a seat with you?" Levi asked and Eren nodded. Levi lowered himself onto the grass. He hugged Eren's sweater before holding it out to him. "I brought your sweater back. Cleaned and everything." Eren looked at the sweater and then out in front of him again.

"No thank you." Levi worried his lip between his teeth and returned the sweater to his lap. "You don't want it back?" Eren shrugged. "Not yet. I want you to wear it first." Levi frowned a bit. "When?" Eren looked at him with a small smile. "Now." Levi slowly nodded before pulling the sweater over his head. It was better with it on. Eren sighed and stood up. "Alright, now we are ready to go."

Levi was confused. "Go? Go where?" Eren offered Levi a hand with a smile. "A second date. I don't see why we should wait until the weekend." Levi took Eren's hand and pulled himself up. "Really?" He asked in disbelief. "You don't want to?" Levi wondered what was going through Eren's mind. Whatever it was, he was being presented with an opportunity. "Of course I want to."

When they started walking, Eren didn't let go of Levi's hand. Levi didn't mind the chance of pace. "Let's do something exciting." Eren suggested. "Like what?" Eren thought for a moment. "We could skip curfew and take a bit of a walk. Places always look different in the dark." Levi smiled a bit. "Yeah, that sounds fun." They started walking in the direction of the school.

"When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut." Eren started telling out of the blue. "I had a love for the stars and wanted to move in between them someday. My dad asked me, 'And what if you go up there and you see that the stars aren't real? What if they're just holes poked in the sky?' and I told him, 'Daddy, then I'll poke a few more into the sky for everyone to look at'. My mom thought it was too cute for words."

Levi smiled at the cute story and at the way Eren looked talking about it. "And now? How do you feel about the stars?" Eren looked up at the sky. "They're as beautiful as ever. It's a little disappointing that I couldn't make my own star and that I'd need math to get up there," Levi laughed softly and Eren smiled. "But I still like looking at them." They were quiet for a moment. Levi marveled at Eren. "I had a friend that always called me a 'sappy romantic' when I spoke about stars." They both laughed a bit.

They reached the school and lazily weaved through the school buildings. One of them had the lights on and they quickly ran away when the door opened. The teachers were having a meeting and being caught out after lights out by every teacher at once was not a good idea.

After that, they ended up walking around the sport fields again. This time they were taking the short way around to the tree they sat under last time. They fell silent for a short while. "Listen, Levi... I'm sorry for being so persistent. This is nice, hanging out with you alone, but if you're involved with Farlan, I wouldn't mind keeping it just hanging out." Levi looked at him a little surprised. "You shouldn't be so worried about Farlan. He's just... there." Eren nodded. "You just tell me what's going on when I need to know. I don't prefer hearing what you might think from Him." Levi looked at him with a straight face to hide his irritation. "he spoke to you." Eren looked out ahead of them. "It doesn't matter."

They walked to the tree in silence. Once they arrived, they sat down next to each other and looked back at the lights of the school. "So... why did you decided to do this tonight?" Levi asked. The way they were sitting, their shoulders were brushing against each other. "I thought I'd rather risk having you turn me down now instead of later." Eren answered and playfully nudged Levi with his shoulder. Levi laughed softly. "Fair enough. But why did you want to go on, well, a second date." Eren smiled a bit. "Because I wanted to." Levi was not convinced. "The dare had nothing to do with it."

"Dare or not, I would have zoned in on you eventually." Eren admitted. "Is that so?" Levi asked with a smile. "Mhmm," Eren grinned and put his arm around Levi. "Because you are exactly my type." Levi laughed a bit. "Your type is short and weird?" Eren shook his head with a sweet smile. "Quiet, but not stupid. Short, yes, but respectable. Sweet, funny, interesting... and still a bit hard to get."

They were looking at each other, and with Eren's arm around Levi, they weren't far apart. Levi looks away. "You're something else, Eren." He hears Eren swallow nervously. "I don't know if it's wrong, but I want to kiss you..." Eren's voice was soft and low. Levi slowly turned his head to look at him again. They were only a breath apart. "I want you to." Eren's tongue ran over his lips before he slowly leaned in. Levi looked at him nearing him with half lidded eyes before closing them.

When their lips touched, Levi thought how wonderfully warm and welcoming Eren's lips were. All of him felt lighter as a feeling of content and bliss bloomed in him. Levi leaned in a bit and Eren did too before they slowly separated. It was one of the most innocent kisses he had ever been given and by far one of the most meaningful.

Once they separated, Levi bit his lip and smiled a bright smile. Even if he wanted to, he doubted that he would have been able to contain it. Eren smiled as well and hugged Levi closer. The two of them sat in silent comfort until Levi grew tired and they decided to walk back to the dorm. They held hands all the way back and Eren's sweater kept Levi warm until he was safely back in his room.

"Where were you?" Patches whispered when Levi climbed into his bed. "Over the moon." He answered with a smile. His roommate rolled his eyes and turned around to go back to sleep.

 


	6. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi starts figuring out what his relationship with Eren is while trying to keep Farlan happy.

Levi is out of bed the moment the senior knocks on his door. "Ass out of bed, Patch." Levi said and threw his pillow on his roommate before leaving the room. He made his way through the few boys already gathering in the hallway on his to Jean's room. He opened the door and his two friends looked up at him.

 

"How are you so awake?" Farlan asked while walking over to Levi. "I slept well." He answered while giving Farlan a hug. "Anyways, you're going to take a shower now, right? You should probably get there before someone steals your shower." Farlan rolled his eyes. "I'm going to kill Lucy if he does that again." He walked out with a small wave.

 

Jean sat up in his bed while Levi closed the door. He hopped onto Jean's bed and crossed his legs. Jean was busy rubbing at his still sleep-filled eye and stopped when he looked at Levi.

 

"You're smiling. At five in the morning. Are you high or something?" Levi let out a small chuckle. "Don't be stupid. I have good news." Jean stretched his arms out above his head. "Mmm?" Levi bounced a bit on the bed. "No, I need you to pay attention."

 

Jean sighed and looked at Levi. "Okay, I'm listening. What is it?" Levi smiled a soft smile. "Eren kissed me last night." Jean smiled. "He did?" Levi nodded. "He even... God, it sounds so stupid; he even asked if he could do it." Jean playfully shoved Levi's shoulder. "Well good for you, man. Did he ask you out?"

 

Levi frowned a bit. "No? I think we're just 'together' now. I don't really know how this works." Jean nodded. "So you're going on dates, but not dating yet?" Levi nodded. "Do you think I should ask him about it, or would that be weird?" Jean hummed. "I think you should wait until he says something. I'm sure he will."

 

The two of them then made their way down to breakfast and Levi informed Jean on the details of his date the previous night until Eren joined them at their table. Eren sat down next to Levi and the three of them talked about the things they had to do during the day. Eren and Jean got in a small, amusing argument about weather or not the characters in book they were doing in English did the right thing. Jean thought that Daisy was justified in her reaction. Eren thought that it was not fair towards Gatsby.

 

Levi finished up for school and met Eren, Jean and Farlan outside the dorm where he usually did before walking towards the school buildings. Levi was standing between Jean and Farlan and Eren asked him to switch places with Jean. When he did, Eren offered his hand to Levi and he took it with a small smile. Farlan noticed and nudged Jean who just shrugged while the other two started having their own conversation.

 

At roll call, Levi did notice one or two people taking note of him and Eren, but he kind of liked it. The need to explain himself wasn't there anymore, because now things seemed to be rather self-explanatory. He saw Farlan standing off to the side with the group in their Health and Safety class and Jean walking over to him. He made a note not to cut those two out just because of Eren.

 

The periods before break seemed pretty boring, but yet again, Levi wasn't paying attention in any ways. He scribbled and doodled in the corner of his pages. He didn't notice that he was writing Eren's name and doodling hearts until Jean pointed it out and said he must be falling hard.

 

At break, Levi walked back to the boarding house with Farlan, but after dishing up, the blonde went off in some other direction. It wasn't unheard of that Farlan would hang out with other friends from time to time, so Levi didn't think much about it. After all, he only really wanted to go sit with Eren.

 

"You know, yesterday was fun." Eren said while they were eating. "Yeah, it... it was really nice." Eren smiled at Levi's reply. "Maybe this weekend, we can hang out some more. Watch a movie or something on my laptop instead of going out to town. There's some kind of now thing opening this weekend and I heard a lot of people were going." Levi nodded and smiled. "Watching movies sound better in any ways."

 

When Eren took their plates away, Jean looked at Levi with a smile. "What?" Levi asked, smiling as well, because he knew exactly what. "Nothing, nothing... I'm just thinking about how much gayer you two can get before you start pooping rainbows." Levi chuckled. "You're an asshole." Jean grinned. "A rainbow-free asshole." Levi raised an eyebrow at him. "Because you haven't been sending soppy, cute texts to that girl you have back at home?"

 

Jean sighed happily. "She's making me mushy, but it's worth it." Levi smiled and loosely hugged his arms around his knees. "Yeah..."

 

Break was finally over and Levi headed back to the school building ahead of the others. The teacher he was at now was ridiculously strict about being late after break. On his way back, the guy that sits behind him offered to carry his bag for him.

 

"Do you have a bucket list, Levi?" His classmate, Jonas, asked him. "More of a to-do list for life. Why?" Jonas smiled and adjusted Levi's bag that was over his one shoulder. "Because I have one. A school bucket list of sorts, you know? That's why we shaved the principle's cat at the end of last year. And why we scared the lunch lady last week." Levi nodded. "I'm guessing there's a specific thing on your bucket list you need my help for."

 

Jonas smiled his heart winning smile. "You really are as clever as they say you are." The corner of Levi's lip turned up. "You're just easy to read, Jonas." Levi's classmate looked at him with mock shock. "My ego is the price I have to pay?" He said dramatically and Levi rolled his eyes with a smile. "I'd say it's a bargain." Jonas smiled. "So you'll do it?" Levi shrugged. "You're going to have to tell me what it is first."

 

Before telling him in a whisper, Jonas looked around them. "I... I want to tick 'getting a blowjob in class' off of my bucket list." Levi worked his lip between his teeth. The class they were in now had the desks you would expect in an university lecture room, so they definitely would have the privacy for it, but it was still a risk. "How about I give you the second best thing?" Jonas looked a little deflated, but accepted the offer. "I'll ask someone to swap seats with you."

 

Levi leaned against a pillar near the class he had to go in to and waited for Jonas to finish asking someone to move so that Levi could sit next to him. He looked at the second floor hallway across from the building he was at and saw Eren.

 

He felt a little guilty for agreeing in to help Jonas, a feeling that intensified when Eren spotted him and waved at him. Levi got to wave back before Jonas tapped his shoulder and lead him into the class. He wasn't up for trying to explain to him why he thought that he maybe shouldn't lend him a hand.

 

Levi ended up doodling in his book again while pretending to listen to the teacher drone on about how whatever he teaches can be applied in the real world until Jonas nudged him with his elbow. As casual as one can only be due to familiarity, Levi slid his hand in under the table without looking up from his book and felt his way up Jonas' leg to his crotch.

 

Jonas let out a soft sigh when Levi squeezed him. Levi rolled his eyes, but continued still. Jonas popped the button of his pants while Levi sunk lower in his seat. He slid his hand into his pants and pumped him without paying much attention to it. He was just helping him get off, it didn't have to mean anything.

 

He flinched when he heard a pencil drop right next to him and looked to his side to Jonas who was wearing a guilty smile. He gestured to the pencil and whispered: "Please?" He looked like he was really close. Levi sighed softly and bent down under the table.

 

While pretending to pick up the dropped pencil, Levi leaned in and dragged his tongue over the head of his classmate's short but thick shaft. He closed his lips around the head and gave it a long suck before receiving a load in his mouth. Swallowing as fart as he could, Levi reached down with his other hand to get the pencil and sat back up.

 

Levi effectively ignored Jonas for the rest of the period and wiped his mostly clean hand on Jonas' pants before continuing with his doodling and note-taking.

 

After class, Jonas said an awkward 'I guess I should hit you up more often, if it's always like that' before leaving in hurry. Levi probably just fulfilled all his wet dreams. After that, Levi hopped over to the bathroom and brushed his teeth before going to his next class.

 

The weekend finally came and Levi went to the gym with Jean before the buses departed. "So," Jean started packing his weights away. "You and Eren." Levi smiled. "It's, uh, been nice..." Jean smiled as well. "You guys have been holding hands more often than not recently. I thought you weren't interested in that type of mushy stuff." he teased.

 

Levi took a sip of his water. "I think that's because I've never cared enough to see how nice it could be." The two of them moved over to the locker room. "Not even Blondie?" Levi thought for a moment. "Well, he was never interested, so... Just figured that it wasn't a thing that we'd do."

 

"At least it seems as if you two figured your things out this week. What did you tell him to finally get him off of your case?" Levi pressed his lips together as he thought back to that encounter. "Uhmm... Nothing really. I gave him a little shit about things I've been wanting to mention for a while now and we made up like we usually do. He seems to have backed off, but I'm not sure why. Did you say anything to him?"

 

Jean shook his head. "He made a comment about you two looking real close after Greenie gathered the balls to make a move on you, but that's it. He probably just noticed, you know. I mean, lots of people are talking about you and Eren."

 

Levi wondered if someone else might have told Farlan something while he took a shower. "Hey Jean." he called over the shower wall while washing his hair and his friend answered with a "Yeah?" called back. "When did you tell Farlan that Eren and I... kissed?" There was a brief pause. "I didn't tell him. I figured you did."

 

That made Levi frown. He had only told Jean, and Eren knows because, well, he was there. It wasn't something spreading through the school. "Do you think Eren might have told him?" Jean asked after a while. "He wouldn't have... It didn't go well the last time they spoke." Levi turned off his water and started getting ready to leave. "Then what was he talking about?" Jean asked when he came out. Levi simply shrugged.

 

They met Eren on their way back to the dorm. He was sitting on the stairs with Connie. "Hey." Levi said. "Hey." Eren smiled. "What are you guys doing out here?" Jean asked while the other two smiled at each other. "We're catching up a bit." Connie explained while Eren Levi sat down next to Eren and leaned against his shoulder. "He was my responsibility and the headmaster asked me to tell him if Greenie's doing alright on Monday."

 

Jean and Connie headed into the dorm to gather their weekend bags. The buses were already starting to line up near the dorms. Eren looked at Levi and Levi tilted his head up to look back at him.

 

"We..." Eren's throat felt dry. "I guess it's safe to say that we're, uh, something now?" Levi bit his lip and nodded. "I'd like to think something like that..." Eren's smile looked genuinely relieved and was therefore contagious.

 

"Does that mean I can kiss you again?" Levi smiled and already leaned up a bit. "That depends, are you saying you want to kiss me now?" Eren smiled and brushed Levi's cheek with his thumb before closing the distance to press their lips together. This kiss lasted longer than the previous one and Levi smiled a bit when Eren pulled him closer.

 

"Levi." The two of them separated and looked behind them where Jean was standing. With Farlan. "Oh, uh..." Levi stood up and Eren followed. "Are you guys read to go?" Farlan looked straight at Levi while Levi looked at Jean.

 

"I don't know." Farlan answered. "I actually feel like staying here this weekend." Now that didn't exactly sit right with Eren, but Jean luckily said something before he could. "Too late to change your mind now, your mom is probably already waiting for you at the bus stop." Levi nodded. "Yeah... And you guys should probably go if you want your usual seats."

 

The small group started walking towards the buses. Eren was about to offer Levi his hand when Farlan asked him to help carry his sports bag. Eren couldn't help but feel that he had done that intentionally.

 

"Enjoy the weekend." Levi said to Jean and did a handshake with him as they usually did. This time Levi went to do the same with Farlan, but the blonde pulled him into a close hug instead. Levi didn't necessarily have a problem with it, but he would have if he had known Eren and Farlan were looking at each other over his shoulder.

 

They separated and the two that were leaving climbed onto their buses. Jean's mom was having her car serviced, so he also took the bus this week. Levi and Eren headed back to the dorm. They had dinner together before excusing himself to do some homework. "Now?" Levi smiled and gave Eren's hand a small squeeze. "The less I have to do tomorrow, the more time I have to watch movies." Eren tried hiding his smile. "Then I better go do mine as well."

 

Later that evening, Levi hopped into his bed and turned his cellphone on. He went through the usual notifications before opening a chat with Jean.

 

'You were right about Eren saying something.'

 

Jean responded almost immediately. _'And how did it go?'_

 

Levi sighed happily as he thought back to where they had kissed outside of the dorm. 'We're officially an item. I think he's a bit nervous about taking it further.'

 

_'After what happened at the dorm, I think it will be a while before he asks you out.'_ Levi read Jean's message twice.

 

'What are you talking about?'

 

_'When I interrupted you two on the stairs, Blondie was already there. He was on his way out when I reached the room. Was probably standing there for a while before I showed up.'_

 

Farlan didn't just catch them kissing, he watched them. That doesn't sound like it could lead to anything good, especially not when taking into account how odd he acted after that.

 

'Do you think he is going to try talking to Eren again?'

 

_'Either you or Eren. Maybe you should talk to him first.'_

 

Levi considered doing that. 'Yeah ok. I'll do it when you guys are back.'

 

_'I will make sure I'm out of the way.'_

 

'Sorry man.'

 

_'No biggie. Wanna see you work this out.'_

 

Levi smiled. Jean was caring when he wanted to be. 'Thanks. Let me know how your date goes this weekend.'

 

_'Ditto.'_

 

He fooled around on social media for a while before starting to consider turning his phone off again. Just as he was closing all his apps, a new message came through.

 

_'Hey. I saw you were online.'_

 

Farlan. He should probably reply. 'Hi. Was just talking to Jean.'

 

The _Typing..._ appeared and disappeared a few times before receiving a short  _'Cool. Just got into bed.'_

 

'Nice.' Levi wondered if he should initiate the conversation about Eren over the phone. _'You said you weren't mad. That still true?'_ His fingers hovered over his keyboard. 'Yeah. I'm not mad.' He paused before adding. 'Pretty happy, actually.'

 

Once again, Farlan typed for a long time before he actually sent something. _'Because Greenie made a move on you?'_ The typing continued, so Levi decided to wait and see what Farlan wanted to say. _'I saw you guys were getting closer. You should be careful, you don't know him well.'_

 

Levi frowned at his screen. He did have a point.

 

_Typing..._

 

_'And don't you think he's moving too fast? He was flirting before he knew your name. Asked you out on the second day you knew him. Ok, you didn't say yes immediately but it didn't take him long to persuade you. I'm worried that he has ulterior motives.'_

 

Levi took a deep breath. Eren had ulterior motives? 'But he hasn't tried anything yet.'

 

_'Yet.'_ Farlan sent back. _'I saw you guys kissing. You really think he isn't just trying to get you to trust you before doing something serious?'_

'Something serious? You told him he could literally just ask. Why go through all that trouble?' He hadn't really been happy about that.

 

_'I told him that hoping he would just do that and then leave you alone. Now all that's going to happen is you're going to get hurt when something happens.'_

Levi turned onto his side. What could he say? He didn't know Eren well, but Eren was eager to tell him things he didn't even ask for.

 

'You don't know him. He tells me a lot about himself.'

 

_'Someone that tells you a lot, usually does that to hide that there's something they're not telling you, Levi. I'm just worried about you.'_

 

'I risk losing something potentially amazing if I back off now. We're hanging out tomorrow. I'll make up my mind after that.'

 

_'I don't think you should do that. We have something special, don't we? Why go looking for something else?'_

 

Levi decided to ignore the last part of that message. He didn't know why he was risking something special either. 'Why shouldn't I hang out with him?'

 

_'Because he's going to say all the right things to make you like him. Back off while you still can. You two are already too serious.'_

 

'I'll see.'

 

_'Levi. You're only hurting yourself.'_

 

'Goodnight.'

 

_'Ok, ok, sweet dreams.'_

 

Levi turned off his phone and leaned over to put it back into his locker, but stopped half way. "Hey Brandon... I think I'm going to go sleep in the other room tonight." His roommate just waved his hand above his head without looking up from his computer screen. He's probably playing some game. "Do what you must. Just don't wake me up tomorrow before ten"

 

"I swear, you would sleep more than you's be awake if given the freedom to do so." Levi commented while gathering a few things; his charger, his slippers, an outfit for the following morning. "Someone has to do it." Levi rolled his eyes. "Literally no one has to do it. No one should do it." Brandon hummed. "Yeah... But I probably should in any ways."

 

"Yeah, yeah, of course you would say that." Levi fixed his sheets after lying under them. "Anyways, I'm out. See you around."

 

"Night." Levi turned off the light and closed the door behind him. He hooked the back part of his right slipper properly over his heel before starting to shuffle over to Jean and Farlan's room. Without even turning the lights on, Levi dumped his things on Jean's bed.

 

He had to feel around for his charger before climbing into Farlan's bed. He plugged his phone in and made himself comfortable after checking that his phone was charging.

 

The sheets smelled like Farlan. They always do if he sleeps over in his bed on a Friday. Farlan usually washed his sheets on a Monday. Levi didn't sleep well that night. Farlan's words had made him uneasy.

 

The following morning, Levi slept in much later than usual, because there was a soft, constant drizzle of rain outside. It created a sense of stillness around the dorm, so there was no loud talking or laughter ringing down the halls. Levi was thankful for that.

 

Levi rolled over and hugged the pillow his head was on top of. His phone was nearby, so he reached for it and plugged it out. While it was switching on, Levi closed his eyes and listened to the soft sound of the rain.

 

He opened his eyes again when his phone vibrated in his hand, and he saw that he had a new message from Farlan. He opened it while rubbing at his one eye. _'Thinking about you.'_ Levi didn't know how to respond, so he simply didn't.

 

His mom was available, so Levi laid in bed while texting her. They caught up on the usual things and she asked if he needed anything. After that they made some idle chat about interesting things happening at work or school. His mom told him about a new employee she had to train. Levi mentioned that there was a new student in his grade.

 

They said their goodbyes and Levi finally climbed out of bed. He made Farlan's bed the way it was before grabbing his clothes. He noticed that he didn't bring his shower supplies, which meant that he had to walk back to his room to get them.

 

This time he decided to be nice to Patches and quietly opened the door. He carefully got the things he needed before sneaking out of the room. True to his word, Levi's roommate was still sleeping. And snoring. He pities the person that has to share a bed with him someday.

 

The trickling of the shower water onto the white tiled floor sounded too harsh in comparison to the soft drizzle of rain outside. Levi enjoyed the water just long enough to warm himself up before getting out. He pulled on his favorite sweatpants and an ordinary shirt with Eren's sweater over it.

 

The sweater was really warm and comfortable. Levi really wanted to know where Eren got it so that he could get five more.

 

Once his teeth were brushed and his hair was fixed, Levi headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. Because it was raining, warm porridge was set out for them to take from. Levi filled his bowl half way and added butter, sugar and milk, in that order.

 

He made himself some hot chocolate to go with it and moved to a table. He finished his porridge at one of the empty tabled while watching some of the other boys move around and then went to sit just outside the dorm with his back against the wall and his feet up on the ledge to finish his hot chocolate.

 

It was a beautiful morning. Everything was wet underneath the soft-looking clouds. A few odd birds were walking on the sport fields and pecking at the grass.

 

As beautiful as it was, it was cold enough to nip at Levi's exposed ears and chase him back into the warmth of the building. After dropping off his cup, Levi headed up to his room and bumped into Eren on the stairway.

 

"Good morning." Eren greeted with a warm smile. "I see you're all dressed for today." He said, referring to the sweater Levi was wearing. The shorter male smiled. "Why wouldn't I be." Eren smiled and offered his hand to Levi, that Levi happily took. "I was just on my way to get some coffee, do you want some as well?"

 

"No, I just had some hot chocolate, but thank you." Eren nodded and walked them towards the drinks table. "I'm glad I bumped into you. I went to your room to ask when you'd like to start with a movie, but you weren't there." Levi nodded. "I slept in Jean's room." Eren smiled. "Because your roommate snores?"

 

Levi laughed softly. "Exactly." Eren started making his coffee. "So, when do you want to start with the movies? I have a whole bunch on my laptop you can choose from."

 

"How about now? I'm not doing anything." Eren took a sip of his coffee and smiled. "Sounds good to me. Are you sure that you don't want anything?" Levi nodded and they walked back to Eren's room.

 

They ended up watching the Harry Potter movies most of the day. They sat next to each other with the computer on Eren's lap and ended up with Levi curled up under Eren's arm by lunch time. "Do you feel like getting some lunch before staring on the next one?" Levi nodded and sat up. "That sounds like a good idea." He stretched and yawned a bit, making Eren smile. "I think it's the weather making us so lazy." Levi shrugged. "It's nice, though."

 

Eren and Levi made their way down to the cafeteria, hand in hand, and dished up from the food set out for them. "What do you think we should watch next?" Eren asked when they sat down. "How about something animated. I feel like watching a kiddie movie."

 

The smile on Eren's face spread unbelievably wide. "I have a whole file of kiddie movies, everything from Snow White to Frozen." Levi grinned. "What is the chance that you can sing along to the whole Frozen movie?" Eren's smile grew proud. "100%" Levi let out a small laugh. "I knew it."

 

Eren tilted his head a bit with a small frown. "Knew that I liked Frozen?" Levi smiled. "No, that you're the cute and passionate type." This time Eren bit his lip to try hiding the smile threatening to spread over his face.

 

"You just called me cute." Levi's heart sped up a bit. The boy in front of him was even cuter right now. "I know. I said it on purpose."

 

"If you were sitting closer to me, I would have kissed you right now."

 

As if on cue, an unwelcome reminder of Farlan's words of warning surfaced in Levi's mind.'I saw you guys kissing. You really think he isn't just trying to get you to trust you before doing something serious?'

 

Eren noticed a change in Levi's expression. "Should... Should I not have said that? If it made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry." Levi shook his head. "No, I'm just thinking... What, uhm, what type of things are you hoping we'd do, now that we're... something?"

 

Levi couldn't much from Eren's expression other than that he was surprised by the question. "If I'm hoping that we'd do something together, I'm not going to start expecting it. Ever. All I'd want to do is what you would want to do too."

 

For a while Levi didn't say anything, so Eren spoke again. "If you think we shouldn't do anything like holding hands yet because we're not dating... I mean, that would be perfectly okay too."

 

"But it's okay if I would like to, you know, keep cuddling when we're watching movies? Or something." Levi asked cautiously. Eren's face looked less serious and he seemed more comfortable once he asked that.

 

"There's nothing I would want to do more." Eren smiled and reached his hand over the table. Levi gladly allowed Eren to take his hand and smiled back. "I hope you have Mulan. Or wait, WALL-E. That's my favorite one."

 

Eren squeezed Levi's hand before releasing it and picking up their empty plates. "How could I not have WALL-E? It's the best." Levi let out a small laugh and Eren quickly dropped off their plates. While he did that, Levi made some hot chocolate for both of them.

 

"Thank you." Eren said when Levi handed him a cup and lead them back up to his room. "By the way, where is your roommate today?" Eren smiled a small, sheepish smile. "I... might have asked him to hang out somewhere else because you were coming over."

 

At that, Levi smiled. "Why, are we going to do anything he wouldn't want to see?" He teased. Eren smiled back. "More like I'm afraid we do something he would want to see." Levi laughed.

 

Once they were back in Eren's room, they decided to get in under the covers. For some additional warmth. They started the movie and watched it while sipping at their warm drinks. After they both emptied their cups, Levi asked if he could lay down to be more comfortable.

 

"Actually..." Eren paused the movie and got off of the bed with the laptop. "What are you doing?" Eren handed Levi the laptop. "Making a plan." Levi just watched Eren as he pulled the chair in the room closer and put it next to the bed. He took the laptop again and put it down on the chair.

 

"See? Now we can both lie down." Levi smiled a bit. "Yeah, that might work." Eren smiled as well. "I hope so. Would you mind if I get in on the other side?" Levi shook his head and moved up so that Eren could get in behind him.

 

Eren folded his arm back and rested his head on it so that Levi could lie down in front of him without them touching much. Levi thought he'd lie close to Eren, because he was nice and warm, which was why they were cuddling earlier.

 

They pressed play and continued watching the movie that they both loved. After a while, Eren dared loosely placing his arm over Levi's waist. Levi smiled a bit and moved back so that he was closer to him.

 

"Can I, uhm, put my arm under your head?" Levi lifted his head and Eren put his arm in under it. Levi rested his head on his arm and made himself comfortable again. "Yeah, this is pretty nice..." He turned his head back a bit to look at Eren and he hugged him a bit closer by his waist. "It is..."

 

Levi allowed his eyes to dance over Eren's face and rest on his lips. Eren instinctively wet his lips and Levi turned his head back to the movie. He heard a soft sigh from Eren and felt his chest warm up.

 

"It's still my favorite movie." Levi said when the credits started playing. His fingertips were dancing over Eren's wrist and arm. "Yeah..." Eren took a slow, deep breath. "Would you like to watch Mulan now?" Levi nodded and reluctantly allowed Eren's hand to reach out to the computer.

 

About a third into the movie, Levi turned around and cuddled into Eren's chest. Eren hugged him a little bit closer. "Getting a little tired?" Eren asked softly. "Hmm... I don't know. I think I want to lie like this for a while." Eren nodded and rubbed his back, but didn't look back up at the movie.

 

Levi took a slow, deep breath and allowed his eyes to fall to Eren's lips again. "This is nice..." He said softly and he watched a small smile form on Eren's lips. "We should do something like this more often."

 

"Mhmm..." Levi leaned in a bit closer. "Yeah, just spend time together and see what happens..." Eren quieted down and leaned in a bit as well. Levi smiled. "Maybe you should kiss me." Levi whispered. He could feel his lips brush against Eren's and how Eren shivered slightly because of it.

 

Without another word, Eren complied and closed the small distance still between them. Levi closed his eyes and felt a new type of comfort and warmth spread through him. He could hear Eren breathe through his nose before he deepened the kiss.

 

Levi curled his fingers in Eren's shirt and quickly matched his depth. He could feel Eren's quickened heartbeat against the heels of his palms, along with his own echoing inside of him. Eren tilted his head a bit and Levi moved his arms to slide them around Eren's neck, hugging himself closer.

 

It was different than what he was used to, it was better. It made him happy and nervous all at once, and he prayed to god that he wouldn't pop a boner while he was pressing himself so close to Eren.

 

The kiss naturally progressed and soon enough, it felt only right when Eren tipped his tongue against the seam of Levi's lips. Levi parted his lips and tipped his own tongue out to invite Eren's in.

 

Eren's kiss wasn't demanding or rushed or overly passionate. It was gentle in some way and it made Levi's heart soar. By the time they eventually separated, Levi noted that the movie had stopped playing. He cuddled up to Eren's chest.

 

Eren smiled and nuzzled his nose into Levi's hair. "It's still raining..." He said softly. "Hmm..." Levi replied. "It's probably why I feel so tired..." Eren hummed in agreement. "We can take a nap?" He suggested and Levi nodded. They both were already settled in, so it didn't take them long to doze off.

 

Quite a while later, Levi found himself waking up in Eren's warm embrace. Eren was still sleeping, so Levi decided to get up, go to the bathroom, and make them some more hot chocolate before waking Eren up.

 

Eren hummed and moved a bit when Levi stood up, but settled down soon after. Levi passed Jean's room on his way to the bathroom, so he went in to fix his bedhead a bit and grab his phone. He looked at the message from Farlan again. _'Thinking about you.'_

 

'What about me?' Levi replied and slid his phone into his pocket. After his stop at the bathroom, his phone vibrated with a new message from Farlan. _'Good things, don't worry. Thinking about what we can do when I get back.'_

 

Levi slid his phone into his pocket and went back to Eren's room to get their cups. He felt his phone vibrate again while he was filling the cups with boiling water. He ignored it until he had finished stirring them.

 

_'Why are you taking so long to reply?'_

 

Levi rolled his eyes at his screen. 'Because I'm busy.'

 

_'With Eren?'_

 

'Maybe.' That might have been to bother Farlan a bit.

 

_'Really? What are you guys doing?'_

 

'Nothing much.'

 

_'Yeah, just like you didn't do anything with Pete?'_

 

Levi was almost surprised by Farlan's self-righteousness. 'Fuck you. We're just on a date. Is that a problem?'

 

_'Why are you going on a date with him?'_

 

'Because I want to. You guys leave me alone here every weekend, what else do you expect me to do? Sit in my room all weekend with Patch while I could be doing something fun?'

 

_'You can do something fun, just not Eren.'_

 

'Yeah, because you get to say that.'

 

_'What the hell does that mean.'_

 

'That I'm done with this conversation.'

 

_'Fine. Sorry I'm trying to protect you.'_

 

Well he just royally fucked up. He was supposed to be making nice with Farlan, not pissing them both off more. Now that he had, he wasn't sure how to fix it. He decided to text Jean.

 

'Hey. The date is going really well, we've been chilling in Eren's room all day so far. Talked to Farlan over the phone about it and he's not very happy. Suggestions?'

 

He picked up the two cups and moved them over to one of the nearby tables. He went over to the food set out for them to snack on and picked up one of the sandwiches. Levi finished the sandwich while waiting for Jean's reply.

 

_'I'm getting ready for my date right now. We're going to a BBQ at Mich's place. And don't worry about Blondie now. Have fun with Eren and just talk to him when you see him Sunday. Worrying about his tantrums is just going to ruin your weekend.'_

 

Levi smiled. 'Thanks. Go get some at the BBQ.'

 

Jean sent him back a silly smiley face and Levi shook his head with a smile. Knowing Jean, he was probably early for his date and he definitely wasn't going to the get-together with this girl of his because he wanted to get lucky.

 

With his phone on silent and a cup in each hand, Levi walked back up to Eren's room. He had to use his elbow to get the door open before he could put the cups down on the desk in Eren's room,

 

"Feel like waking up yet?" Levi asked softly while running his fingers through Eren's hair. Eren started smiling and opened his eyes to look up at Levi. "I was wondering when you would come back." Levi smiled and reached for Eren's cup. "I brought hot chocolate." Eren took a deep breath and sat up. "Thank you. Did you get some for yourself as well?" Levi nodded and picked up his own cup after handing over Eren's.

 

They sat on Eren's bed and chatted about random things, but Levi was a bit down after his chat with Farlan and Eren seemed to pick up on that. "Today was fun." Eren said after a beat of silence. "Yeah..." Levi agreed. He noticed that Eren was hoping he would say more, so he added: "It's almost time for dinner. We should probably start heading down at some point." Eren hummed. "Yeah, let's go."

 

A few of the other boys that didn't go home over the weekend joined them at the table. Armin seemed to be good friends with Eren and the fact that he hadn't known that before made him worry even more that what Farlan said about Eren might be true.

 

He excused himself before dinner was over, claiming to be tired, and went to Jean's room. He killed some time on social media and played a game of solitaire with the cards in Jean's locker before getting into bed and calling it a night. He thought about his day with Eren and wondered how something could make him feel so happy and worried at the same time. He should just never have turned on his phone.

 

Sunday evening, Farlan and Jean were back. Farlan packed out his things and left the room before Jean could give them some privacy. Levi ended up talking to Jean about the date he went on with his girl back at home. Levi noticed that Jean was just talking so that he didn't have the time to sit and think about things.

 

If he had thought about things, he might have realized that Farlan seemed to be avoiding him, and that he should have noticed it when he received a casual 'hey' instead of a hug like the one on Friday.

 

Levi did see Farlan occasionally, but by Wednesday he was sure that Farlan was avoiding him. He didn't even sit with them at break anymore. After school, Levi decided to go and talk to him. Eren didn't look too happy when he told him where he was going, but at least he didn't try and stop him. He went to look for one of Farlan's other friend and asked where he could find him.

 

The guy said that Farlan was probably hanging out on the bleachers, but that he was available if he couldn't find him. Levi didn't even bother to hide how ticked off he was that this guy was trying to make a pass at him and was told to 'Calm down' because 'It's just a joke, man. Don't piss yourself.'

 

He did find him on the bleachers with one of his other friends that Levi really didn't care about. The friend left when he saw Levi nearing them and he was thankful for that.

 

"Since when do you hang out with them?" Levi asked while sitting down next to Farlan. "Since my best friend started being an asshole." Levi sighed. "What has gotten in to you? I thought we were fine."

 

Farlan frowned. "No, what has gotten in to you? Suddenly you're all sappy with the new kid that you said was such a pain in the ass. And I hear you've been turning down hookups. What, are you too good for that now?"

 

"Am I not allowed to turn a guy or two down now? What type of bullshit is that?"

 

Farlan sighed. "No, Levi, it's not that..." He spoke quieter now. "It's that you've changed. I never thought you would push me back to play second fiddle."

 

Levi looked down at his lap. He felt guilty because of it all, and he knew how Farlan was feeling. That's how Farlan has always made him feel, after all, but he didn't realize it. "If you think it's because of the dates, it's not..." Levi said quietly after a moment of silence. "Yeah, whatever." Farlan moved to stand up, but Levi stopped him. "No, really, I can prove it to you."

 

Farlan looked at him for a long moment before he said: "Fine. Show me what he did on one of your dates that was so fantastic." Levi nodded slowly and stood up. "It's this way."

 

He took Farlan through a shortened, watered-down version of his first date with Eren. "We walked around that path back there." Levi said as they crossed the sport field. He pointed so the path circling the fields. Farlan looked at where he pointed and then looked around them.

 

"We talked about pets and scars and, uh, he said this really cute thing;" Levi smiled. "I told him to stay away from hot things and he said something like 'then I should stay away from you' and I -" He looked at Farlan he didn't look very amused. Levi dropped his smile. "And yeah, i thought it was pretty nice..."

 

They walked in relative silence over to the stairs that lead to the path. "Is this all you guys did? You just... walked?" Farlan asked. "Well, for the most part..." He smiled when they reached the top of the stairs.

 

"We also slid down this." Levi hopped up onto the pole the way he had done on his date with Eren. "It's a lot of fun, do you want to try it?" Farlan shook his head and continued walking while looking around him again. "Oh..." Levi climbed off and caught up to Farlan.

 

"We took a short cut this time, but last time we walked all the way from the other side before we came round here. When we got around here, though, Eren, well, he asked to hold my hand." Farlan just looked at him again and once more Levi felt stupid for smiling. "Okay." Farlan said and grabbed Levi's hand.

 

"Yeah, pretty much like that..." Levi said awkwardly. He couldn't tell if taking Farlan through their date was helping, or if he was bored, because he kept looking around, but he still told him everything there was to know. He didn't want something to come out later, because that would cause even more trouble.

 

That's why he told Farlan about the picnic Eren planned for them and about how Eren was initially weary about moving into a dorm and how they leaned back against the tree. When Levi and Farlan stood under the tree, Farlan still didn't look satisfied. "We ended up here after our second date as well." Levi offered, hoping that was what Farlan wanted to hear.

 

"Yeah? So this tree is 'special' or something to you?" Levi shrugged. "Well, we did... uhm, he kissed me here..." It looked as if Farlan's skin was crawling, but he didn't immediately say anything.

 

It didn't sit right with him that Levi had a place that was almost 'sacred' to him. He wanted to get rid of it, wanted Levi to see it as just a simple tree again. "I bet Greenie doesn't even kiss good." Levi frowned a bit and watched Farlan look around. When he tried looking where he was looking, Farlan turned back to him. "Don't you agree?"

 

"I see no reason to say that he's bad..." Levi said with an uncertain shrug. A small smile curled Farlan's lips and he stepped closer to Levi to put his hands on his sides. "I mean that he doesn't know how to kiss you," He backed Levi up against the tree. "He doesn't know what you like the way I do."

 

"Farlan," He tried protesting softly, but he still kissed him in any ways. Levi simply closed his eyes and kissed him back without even bothering to put his arms around him. If they were kissing, he had to have done something right and Levi saw that as a small victory, even though he had a tongue in his mouth he didn't really want there.

 

"You know, someone followed us out here..." Farlan said against his lips before pushing him more up against the tree and kissing him deeper. "What?" Farlan just kissed him again without giving him a chance to look around. He brought his hands up to push at Farlan's arms.

 

"Come on," Farlan said against the corner of Levi's mouth while pushing his hands in under Levi's shirt. "Let's show Eren how it's really done..."

 

Finally realization hit and Levi tried backing out of the kiss. Farlan knew, that's why he kept looking around them. He was stuck between a tree and a hard place and Farlan wasn't budging, no matter how he pushed at him.

 

"Fuck, _cut it out_." Levi got out after turning his head away, but Farlan simply captured his lips again. Levi made sounds against his lips and stopped cooperating, still trying to push Farlan the fuck off when he was suddenly ripped away from him.

 

Levi's eyes shot open and he caught his balance before taking in the scene. Eren stood near him, panting and clearly pissed, and Farlan was staggering to his feet on his other side, his hand pressed to his sore jaw,

 

It took Farlan a few seconds to recover, but once he did, he lurched at Eren with his own balled fist. Eren leaned back and brought up his arm to block the blow, but Levi could still see that it hit him hard.

 

He retaliated immediately and brought his other hand up from the side, hitting Farlan hard on the side of his head and throwing him off of his balance. "No!" Levi cried out now that he was over the initial shock.

 

"You're wasting your time with him!" Farlan said bitterly and both Eren and Levi stood watching him as he pushed himself up to his feet. "You'll see, Greenie, your 'boyfriend' here is a slut. He's probably not good for anything other than a good fuck." He spit some blood out on the ground before stomping off in the direction of the school.

 

Levi could feel every word cut into him and choke him up more. Bringing Farlan out here was supposed to make things better, not destroy them and leave him standing alone with tears brimming his eyes.

 

Eren.

 

Levi turned to look at him standing a few steps away from him. Levi opened his mouth to say something, anything that would somehow make things better, but Eren cut him off by raising his hand in a sharp motion that made Levi flinch.

 

"Just... Don't."

 

"Eren, please..."

 

The taller boy shook his head and let out a small, resentful chuckle. "You know, I thought I could do this... I really thought... that I could do this." Eren dropped his hand and turned around to start walking back the way he came from.

 

Levi didn't know which way he should go, or if he should go anywhere at all.


	7. Growing Dependent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback to illustrate how Levi ended up in the situation he was in.

"Don't forget to bring your sweater, Levi!"

Levi came running down the stairs, his one shoe still untied, to where his mom was waiting for him. He handed her his tie before ducking down to tie his shoelace. She sighed. "I don't know how you pull this thing so skew." She started undoing the ruined knot and Levi stood up. "It's hard to take off."

"No, you just pull on the wrong end." She popped his collar before looping the tie around his neck. She started making it again and Levi took a deep breath. "Mom?" She looked at the tie while answering with a cheerful, "Yes, my dear?"

Back in middle school, when Levi was in grade six, he felt like he could ask his mom anything. He used to prefer the way his dad explained things, but he wasn't around much – work was keeping him very busy – and this was very important. He knew that if he waited, he would end up chickening out.

"What did you always do when... when you used to like someone?" Levi mumbled. The smile that spread across his mom's cheeks was too cheerful for words. "I used to write my special someone a letter and slip it into their backpack." Levi nodded while shuffling his feet awkwardly. "And what did you put in the letter?"

"I would say how I feel and ask if he felt the same way. Is there by any chance a special someone you want to write a letter for?" He reluctantly nodded. "Can you tell me who it is?" She whispered. "He sits next to me in class..." He whispered back.

His mom stalled. "You... you set next to the Church's boy, don't you?" Levi blushed and gave a small nod. His mom slowly resumed tying his tie. Once she was finished, she looked up at him. "Have you thought about this, Levi? About... liking a boy?"

Levi shrugged awkwardly while pushing his tie in under his sweater. "I don't know, I've liked him for a while and, well he's really cool and... maybe if he knows, he might like me back?"

His mom sighed. "I hope for your sake he likes you back." She smiled. "But you're so cute, I can't imagine him not liking you back, at least a little bit." Levi smiled a bit and tried to hide it. "Just, when you see your dad again... Let's keep this between us, okay?" Levi nodded and his mom smiled a bit. "Thank you. Enjoy your day, sweetie." She kissed his forehead. He rubbed over the spot and pulled a bit of a face. "Bye Mom."

He walked towards the bus stop and arrived just as the bus did. While driving to school, he thought about what he might write to Farlan. They've been sitting next to each other since the beginning of the year and initially didn't talk much. It was Farlan that got curious about the quiet kid next to him and bugged him until he talked to him.

Farlan was the coolest guy Levi knew. He had an older brother in high school, so he knew about a whole world Levi wasn't a part of. Every Monday, Farlan told him new stories of things he did with his older friends and it always made him feel as if he wasn't exciting enough for Farlan, but every day, the blonde continued talking to him, and that made him feel special.

Writing a simple 'I like you' seemed too silly. A few ideas fell around in his mind until he found a few pieces that worked. By the time he arrived at his class, he was determined to do it. He was going to slip the letter into Farlan's bag behind his lunch box during first break and then make sure he is out of the class before Farlan reaches for his lunch at second break.

As determined as he was, he couldn't stop his heart from fluttering when he spotted Farlan walking into the class. He greeted a few of their classmates as he made his way to their joined bench. "Hey you," Farlan greeted and dropped his bag next to the table. "How was your weekend?"

Levi smiled a bit. "It was okay. I went to the movies." Farlan smiled as well as he sat down. "Did you go with your mom?" Levi felt his smile almost dissolving. "Yeah, it was her idea." He felt so lame about almost being twelve and still hanging out with his mom.

Farlan told him about how he went to a pool party with his brother and his friends. Levi wanted to be cool like Farlan and have loads of friends, of high school friends, but for now he felt cool enough just being friends with Farlan.

He usually spent his breaks floating around the school grounds, but recently Farlan has asked him to hang out with him and his group. That's when Levi started really getting to know him. He was funny, cool, playful, and all those nice things. That's also when he started thinking that he might like him.

Last Friday, Farlan invited him to go out with him and his brother after school. As bad as he was with socializing in big groups, Farlan made him feel welcome and a part of the group. That's when he had decided that he had to tell Farlan about the fluttering he evoked in his chest.

It took him all weekend to try and figure out how he could tell Farlan. Every scenario he came up with had at least a dozen flaws, so he was relieved when his mom suggested one that was about as foolproof as it could get. If Farlan didn't feel the same, he could just throw away the letter and never speak of it again.

Needless to say, Levi didn't pay much attention in class on this specific Monday. He told Farlan he would be staying in class during first break when they heard the bell and Farlan simply shrugged before leaving.

There was a basket of scrap paper in the class, so once everyone had left, Levi went over to it and picked out a clean white piece of paper and a bigger orange piece. Orange was Farlan's favorite color. He thought for a second before taking a scrap of yellow as well.

Levi sat down and stuck the card together. He cut triangles out of the yellow piece and stuck it around where he wrote 'Farlan' on the folded piece of orange paper. He cut the white page to be smaller than the orange one and stuck it in on the inside of the card.

Now, he had to write.

Levi looked in his pencil case and pulled out his black ink pen that he almost never used. He took a deep breath and decided to just wrote, because thinking about it didn't seem to be working at all. So, he just wrote.

_'Farlan._  
_We weren't really friends before this year, but I think it's been really nice hanging out with you. I like listening to you talk and hanging out with you and your friends. You call me weird sometimes and smile and I want to tell you that I'm probably weird around you because I think I kind of like you._  
_If I think about it, I get all happy and I thought you might feel the same way, so I decided to tell you.'_

He was running out of space on the card. Was that enough?

_'You probably don't so you don't have to say anything, I guess I just wanted you to know. If you do, we could probably talk about it._  
_Levi'_

It felt awkward and weird and not right, but Levi didn't have the time to make a new one, because a bell signaled the end of break. He quickly pushed the card into Farlan's bag where his lunchbox was and cleaned up all the scraps of paper.

The class filled again and Levi couldn't sit still. The teacher even scolded him for not paying attention. "Ants in your pants?" Farlan asked under his breath while they were supposed to be working. Levi blushed and turned his face away from Farlan a bit.

When second break started, Levi made to rush out of the class. "Hey, wait for me." Farlan said, holding Levi by his wrist. "I just want to get my lunch." Levi shook his head. "I really need to go to the bathroom." Farlan sighed. "Fine, I'll see you now."

Levi rushed out of the class and stood just out of view. He didn't need the bathroom, but he didn't want to be there while Farlan read the card.

"Hey, look at this. I think I have an admirer." Levi groaned softly. The class wasn't empty yet and Farlan was talking to one of his other friends. "Who is it from?" The friend asked and he heard Farlan answer with a small snort. "From Levi. It was kind of obvious that he had a crush on me."

The small raven was horrified. He thought that nobody knew. By the sounds of it, Farlan and all his friends knew.

"Come on, show me what it says!" The friend asked. "No way. I'm going to go find Levi." The two of them walked out of the class to find Levi standing just outside the door. Farlan smiled. "Speak of the devil." Levi squirmed awkwardly. Farlan looked at the friend who got the message and left.

"I read your card." Farlan said, holding the card up. Levi nodded, but couldn't look up at him. "Were you hoping we would date or something?"

Levi wasn't planning on answering, but Farlan waited for an answer until he finally said something. "Well, maybe...? I mean, that's... uhm, it's what you do if you and someone else like each other." The blonde hummed. "I could date you." Levi's eyes shot up to look at Farlan. "Really?"

Farlan pulled his shoulders up. "Sure, but do you know how to be a boyfriend?"

Levi scrambled his mind looking for an answer. "I guess..." Farlan raised an eyebrow. "Really? We can be like my brother and his girlfriend?" Every time Levi saw Farlan's brother with his girlfriend, they kissed at some point.

"If you're asking if we could... if we could kiss, we can..." He shuffled awkwardly. Farlan was a little awkward himself. "I guess that's what couples do, huh..." Levi nodded. The idea made Levi's heart and stomach flutter. He actually wondered if they had swapped places.

"Now what?" Levi asked nervously. Farlan looked around before stepping closer to Levi. "We, uh, we do this." Farlan leaned in far too fast and knocked his mouth against Levi's. It hurt a bit, but Levi just went with it and puckered his lips a bit to make it a kiss. He didn't really know what he was doing, but truth be told, neither did Farlan, so it was an awkward mess of a first kiss they tried figuring out.

"So... so now we're a couple." Farlan said after pulling back. Levi blushed and nodded. Farlan smiled. "Let's not tell everyone yet. It's cooler when you date secretly." Levi nodded as if that much had been obvious. "Yeah..."

News did spread that they kissed. It started with Farlan telling that friend that knew about the card, who then told all his friends. People tried asking Levi what was going on, but he quickly scurried away from all the attention. He spent both breaks hiding in the bathroom the next day, because he was too confused himself to answer all the questions people were asking him.

The flutter in his chest made him feel lighter every time he just thought about it and he spent most of his time in hiding, smiling at how happy it all made him. It was the first time he ever had a big crush and he liked him back. Like a secret, he whispered to himself that they were a couple.

After school, he went to the place he usually sat to do his homework until his mom picked him up. It was a wooden bench under a large tree, a short distance away from the other tables. This afternoon, one of the seventh graders, Pete, sat with him at his table. He looked at him before looking back at his work.

Pete spoke to him a little while later. "I heard that you and Farlan have a little thing going on now." Levi awkwardly tried mumbling a response. "It's sad..." Pete said without paying any attention to Levi's mumbling. "I was hoping a cute thing like you would stay available for me." Levi blushed and faced his work instead of Pete, who was smiling. "Maybe I'll ask you out if you also go to Sina College. But Farlan is definitely lucky that he got to kiss you."

Levi's lips tingled at the reminder of the kiss. "I-It was nice, I guess..." Levi stuttered out and Pete hummed. "Couldn't have been that nice if it was his first time. He probably just pressed his mouth against yours; that's what my first kiss did."

Levi frowned a bit. "What else are you supposed to do?" Pete turned his head to look at Levi. "I could always show you." Levi shifted awkwardly and nodded. Pete smiled a reassuring smile and leaned half way over the table.

"You don't have to look so nervous about it..." Levi smiled a bit and leaned in as well. Pete cupped Levi's cheek and ran his thumb over his lips. "You really are cute, you know..." He whispered before leaning in slowly to softly kiss Levi.

This kiss was better, but a little weird, because he didn't exactly feel anything for Pete. Not in grade six. Pete's eyes were closed, so he closed his own as well. His lips were slowly coaxed open for Pete to effortlessly slide his tongue past Levi's lips.

Levi was so surprised that he simply froze. Pete pulled back with a soft chuckle. "That's enough for now, then. We can leave that for next time." Levi plopped back onto his seat while Pete slowly lowered himself onto his own. "What-What do you mean next time?"

Pete smiled sweetly. "I would be crazy not to ask for a second kiss after that one." Levi got all flustered at the comment and Pete let out a calm chuckle. "I'll see you again sometime." Pete packed up his things and casually walked away.

Levi stuffed all his things into his bag and felt his phone vibrate with a bunch of incoming messages.

_'where r u?'_  
_'Im at th gate meet m there'_  
_'is that u wth pete?? Wht u doing??'_  
_'levi answr ur phone'_  
_'arn't w a couple??'_

He didn't know exactly how to answer to the string of texts and looked around to see Farlan walking over to him. He met him half way. "Are you two a secret couple too?" Was the first thing the blonde said. "What? No, uh... I don't know, he asked about the kiss and... He wanted to, I don't know, he said he wanted to show me how."

"Oh..." Farlan looked at him. He felt stupid for getting jealous like that. "You can kiss whoever you want to, that's okay..." Farlan still felt like he was losing out. "But you always do everything with me first!" Levi looked at him with wide eyes and he continued. "Yeah! You can't like, make out with Pete until we make out."

Levi nodded once and then twice. "Okay."

"Okay."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment. "Do you... Want to go to the tuck shop? I brought money today." Levi smiled. "Yes please." As they walked there and then waited in line, he hoped Farlan would take his hand. He even put his hand very close to Farlan's while they were eating their snacks, but he didn't seem to get the hint.

His mom came to pick him up shortly after that, so Levi went home. "Was that Farlan you were sitting with?" His mom asked. Levi couldn't stop the hint of a smile showing on his lips. "Yeah..." His mom smiled. "Did he like your card?" Levi blushed, but nodded. His mom smiled. "Good for you, my baby boy." Levi blushed more. "Mooooom..." She just laughed.

The only thing that changed between Levi and Farlan after that was that they texted more and Levi was invited to hang out with Farlan every Friday. Only when they were alone were things different between them.

It started with kissing, that went much better now that Pete had given Levi a proper demonstration. Levi avoided Pete until he figured out how to make out with someone with Farlan. Pete was casual and flirty with Levi, so he avoided him still after they made out behind the big tree where he usually did his homework.

By the end of grade six, they have worked their way up to hand jobs. Or rather, Levi giving Farlan hand jobs. Levi couldn't allow his shyness to wait outside the bedroom door, so it followed him along with everything they tried and he found it was more comfortable being the one doing things than being the one things are being done to.

That Christmas holiday was the worst one Levi had ever had to love through. By Christmas, he had grown so used to his dad being on 'business trips' and working late that he was almost surprised when he did show up before dinner.

They had planned on going to friends for dinner, but his father insisted that they stay at home now that he was there. What he didn't know was that all of their important things were in the car and that his mom never planned on going back home after dinner. She eventually agreed and he had to help her cook something while his dad read the newspaper in the living room.

He can distinctly remember his mom's hands trembling while she tried to cut the vegetables, the leg of lamb she had prepared for Christmas Day lunch already in the oven. The sound of chopping slowing down as Levi peeled the potatoes.

When the sound stopped, Levi turned around to see his mom staring blindly at a cut on her finger. "Mom..." She sniffed. "It's okay, it's... just a cut." He slowly moved closer to her. He put a hand on her back and felt her quiver.

"Mom." He tried again and she turned her face away from him before hugging him into her arms. "I-I'm sorry, Mom..." He said against her apron and she hugged him tighter. Eventually she released him. "We..." She sniffed. "We need to get these vegetables on the stove." It was as if she had just realized the cut on her finger. "And I need to get this cleaned."

His mom left the kitchen and didn't come back for a long time. Levi was glad that he had his earphones nearby and could listen to the few songs he actually had saved to his phone instead of the arguing, the crying, and the hitting.

Levi's heart was pounding louder than the music in his ears, but he couldn't make himself leave the kitchen to go help. He tried, but he couldn't get himself to do it. He ended up burning the food.

There was shouting until the front door slammed shut. Slow steps neared the kitchen and Levi fiddled with the things on the stove to look busy, like he really couldn't hear over his earphones. To his great relief, his mother was the one that walked into the kitchen.

She turned everything off, the oven, the stove, the lights, and left Levi standing shocked in the darkness. His mom's lip was trembling, her eyes were red, and her jaw was already swelling.

The next morning, she went to the doctor and he overheard her telling someone on the phone that her jaw had been chipped by the blow. One half of him was thankful that he hadn't received the blow, but the other half wished that he had jumped in front of it and that it had cracked his skull instead of chipped his mom's jaw.

They never spoke about it and Levi's mom wasn't herself for a long time. She needed some time for herself, so she arranged that Levi went on holiday with Farlan and his family. It was embarrassing the way his parents treated him like a broken thing and the only place he truly found some solace was against Farlan's curious lips.

Grade seven started and Pete was no longer on the scene. He had started as a grade eight at Sina College All-Boys boarding school, so he wasn't around at Levi's school anymore. People have long stopped bugging him and Farlan about what they were and it wasn't surprising anymore when someone found them making out behind a class.

Christmas wasn't a big thing in his house anymore, it seemed, which just gave Levi more time to wonder if his dad will ever show up again or not.

Levi's eighth grade mile stone was moving from hand jobs to blow jobs and dry humping.

Many of their new friends at Sina asked them about what their relationship was and Levi was so used to saying that they were only friends that it was his default answer. Farlan usually told everyone to go ask Levi, and that's how they became 'nothing'.

Farlan was very aware of the fact that Pete was back on the scene, but never spoke directly about it. Pete never said anything either, in fact, he didn't speak much to Levi at all.

Except for once.

"Mouse, is it?" Levi looked up from the spot of grass he was sitting on. For a moment, he thought Pete had forgotten who he was. "The last time I saw you, you looked like a stray puppy," Levi frowned a bit. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Pete let out a small laugh. "Well, you had a face so cute, I sure couldn't turn you down."

Levi wasn't sure how to respond to something like that, but luckily Pete continued talking. "You're not all that cute anymore..." He sat down and stretched his legs out in front of him. "You're losing the cute puppy look for a more attractive one, but..." Pete sighed and Levi squirmed a bit. To him, Pete had grown more attractive, yes, but more intimidating.

"But...?" Pete nodded his head to the side. "But you still have a collar." Levi looked in that direction and saw Farlan walking towards them with Jean. "We're not dating." He said softly. "You're still 'not dating'." That was all that had to be said. Pete stood up, wanting to be out of the way before Farlan arrived.

"You're right." Levi said and he stopped to look back at him over his shoulder. "Nothing has changed." Pete smiled a bit. "I'll see you around, Mouse."

Farlan was a bit ticked off that day.

A few students asked Levi about Farlan again after they were caught making out in Farlan's room by one of Jean's other friends. Farlan and Jean became friends because they were bunking together and Farlan owed his roommate a small explanation after that.

It started when Prince Charming, the 'most likely to become head boy' said; "If you're getting it on with Blondie, who else are you making out with?" Levi shrugged, but half of his class was watching him. "Farlan was just interested, so... It's not like it's anything serious." Ace raised an eyebrow and decided to speak up. "And if someone else is also interested?" Levi shrugged. "Look, making out with someone is no big deal..."

Some of his classmates approached him after that and it became his thing. And it wasn't a big deal. People weren't surprised by it at the end of grade eight, meaning that when grade nine started, Levi and his hookups didn't have to be weird about it. Plus, many people got their firsts out of the way by then, so grade nine wasn't all that bad. It sucked a bit that Jean hurt his arm in the gym, because Levi and Farlan had to jump in for the first while to help him do things.

Plus, schoolwork didn't make the year too hard either.

What did make it hard was Pete.

Because Levi discovered that occasional glances and discreet winks were enough for him to start crushing on someone other than Farlan.

In all honesty, it scared him. Farlan was always by his side, has been for the past three years, and for the first time, Levi felt like he was cheating on him. Farlan was there for him over the holiday when Levi didn't want to think about the stupid Christmas present his dad had sent him through the post.

He ended up calling Farlan whenever he had had enough of thinking and finding a spot where his mom won't be able to eavesdrop became a regular thing. So many of their calls ended up with phone sex that it was almost weird when it didn't.

In an attempt to soothe his turbulent emotions, Levi asked Farlan to touch him more, to do more things together instead of him just doing things to Farlan, urging him to spend more time with him behind a locked door.

It honestly came as no surprise when it eventually lead to sex. Farlan's hands had always been curious and since Levi was almost insisting for them to be in his pants, he started getting him used to being touched.

It didn't happen at school, which, in hindsight, Levi was probably thankful for. It happened during the first holiday of the year. Jean and his parents were going to a farm and both Levi and Farlan had been invited to join them.

Farlan hadn't been too keen on going until he had heard that Levi was definitely going.

There was an old barn that they claimed as their own and they filled it with everything they would need. Jean's uncle, the owner of the farm, even helped them each make proper straw couches for themselves. It was an experience they all enjoyed.

It happened on a Wednesday, the last one before they went back to school. Jean's uncle told them at breakfast that he'd like to take Jean with him to count the sheep. Levi and Farlan said they would like to go and sleep some more instead of going with them.

Jean left, but not before they jokingly warned him not to fall asleep while counting sheep.

Levi and Farlan walked back to the old barn and climbed back up to where their beds were.

"I have an idea." Farlan said when Levi plopped down on his bed. "What is it?" He asked and moved up so that Farlan can get onto his bed with him. "Why don't we... fool around a bit and see where it goes?" Levi turned on his side and smiled a bit. "We already know where it goes."

He moved to kiss Farlan, but he stopped him. "You do know that it could lead to more than just what we've been doing." Levi bit his lip. "I guess... But should we? What about Jean." Farlan hugged his arm around Levi. "You heard his aunt, they're going to be out until lunch."

Levi thought about it. They did have everything they would need with them and he couldn't really think of a reason why not. So he agreed. Farlan smiled when Levi nodded. "Really?" He asked with a smile. "Yeah..." Levi answered.

"And it'll be your first time?" Levi blushed and nodded again. Farlan licked his lips. "So... how do you want to do this?" Levi thought for a moment. "We... uh, we just do what we usually do and take it further, you know?"

"Right, right. We just start by kissing." He nodded to himself before pulling Levi into a kiss. They made out until Farlan's hands drifted in under Levi's clothes and felt around his chest. They separated to get their shirts off before kissing again, but this time Farlan's hands slid into Levi's pants.

This time it felt different, because Levi knew that this time they weren't just going to stop there.

Farlan pulled back from him. "Get undressed. I'll get what we need." Levi nodded and waited for Farlan to get up. He slipped in under his covers and wiggled his pants and underwear off. Farlan came back with the lube and condoms he had stashed deep in his bag.

"Are you shy?" He asked while pulling his own clothes off without the comfort of covers hiding him. "Nervous, I guess..." Farlan climbed in under the covers with Levi and hugged them against each other. Levi was very aware of the fact that they were both naked. Their skin touching felt different now that they were completely in the nude.

They spent a few moments hugging and rubbing their hands over each other until Levi's hand found Farlan's shaft. He could remember the first time he had seen it and had asked Farlan if he had hit it on something. The blonde had blushed and told him that his was supposed to look that way.

_'Mine doesn't look that way.'_  
_'Yeah, well I'm different!'_

Farlan pulled back a bit to give Levi's hand room to move. "Hey, get on top of me..." he whispered. Levi nodded and awkwardly moved on the bed with Farlan until he was on top of him, one leg on each side of Farlan's hips.

He watched Farlan fiddle with the lube and get some on his fingers. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes when Farlan started working his fingers into him, as he had done many times before. This time, Farlan added a third finger and Levi grunted softly. So much was okay. He held onto Farlan's wrist and moved his hips in small motions up and down on his fingers.

"Are you ready to continue...?" Farlan asked and Levi stopped moving. "Yeah..." He could see out over the farm through the window, could feel the morning sun on his bare side. He decided to focus on the view instead of how Farlan removed his fingers and awkwardly put a condom on.

He didn't put it on right, Levi would later realize.

Farlan put a slightly sticky hand on Levi's thigh and he looked back at Farlan. "You, uh... need to sit down on it." Levi nodded and looked down between his own legs where his erection hung and Farlan's stood. He awkwardly shufled forwards before trying to lower himself on his shaft.

Neither of them thought of lining him up, so when he first sat down, the tip slid past its destination, and Farlan hissed as his hard-on slid up between Levi's cheeks.

"S-Sorry..." Levi stuttered out, a small blush starting to color his cheeks, and pushed up to try again. This time Farlan reached down to hold his shaft by the base and awkwardly tried looking between Levi's legs to see where he should hold it. 

Levi moved his hips awkwardly until he felt the intrusive tip against his entrance. It felt oddly smooth and warm against him and sort of... erotic. He closed his eyes again and tried pushing down on it.

The further he went the more it hurt. By the time the head was fully in him, he was already blinking tears away. "That's really good..." Farlan breathed out and tangled his fingers in the sheets. Levi whined. "It - It hurts, I don't think, ah..." He wiped the water brimming in his eyes away. His chest was already heaving with pants.

"They say it gets better... So just give it a chance..." Levi bit his lip and nodded. Farlan put a hand on Levi's hip. Levi tensed his thighs to keep his balance and every time he did, it hurt that much more to have something in him.

He screwed his eyes shut and pushed through it, lowering himself further for what felt for an eternity. "Farlan, ah, f-fuck..." He panted out when he felt like he couldn't anymore. "Try moving..." was the only advice the blonde could offer. Levi nodded, wiped at his eyes, and moved up again. He couldn't do much, because every time he went up, he had to go down again.

"Wait, wait..." Levi was relieved when he could stop. "Why don't you lie down." Levi hesitated a moment before he nodded. He pulled off of Farlan, his thighs quivering, and lied down on the bed after Farlan moved up.

He caught his breath while Farlan positioned himself between his legs. The thought of having to do the whole thing again almost made him while again. Farlan tried adding more lube to his shaft before lining his lip up with Levi's entrance.

Levi held his breath and tensed his arms where they rested by his sides when Farlan started pushing in.

To his surprise, it was much easier to do lying down. He could allow his legs to relax, resulting in a smoother entry. He let out a sigh as Farlan slowly pushed in all the way. "Oh god..." Farlan breathed out. Levi opened his eyes to look up at him. "Can I move?" Levi nodded. He felt like he couldn't talk, but with each thrust into him, soft, breathy sounds escaped him.

"It that good?" Farlan asked, his cheeks flushed red as he did his best to keep his hips moving. "Yeah..." Levi lied. It was good as long as it wasn't bad, was his reasoning.

Farlan dragged his eyes over Levi's naked frame and Levi felt his heart swell at feeling so valuable. He gasped loudly when Farlan accidentally did something that felt really good and then moaned, his fingers tangling in the bed sheets.

Blondie tried doing it again, thrusting at the same angle, and Levi's back arched off of the bed. That's how they continued, both of them trying to move along with the other, until Farlan told him that he was getting close.

Levi untangled is hand from the sheets and wrapped it tightly around his shaft. He pumped himself rapidly and didn't stop when Farlan did. He continued until he released and spilled the familiar liquid over his stomach. He twitched a bit, but felt like jelly.

He felt oddly wet, warm and sticky between his legs and grunted softly because of it. Farlan got the message and pulled out of Levi. It hit him that he hadn't watched Farlan finished, couldn't judge if he really did enjoy it. The coy smile he was wearing told Levi that he probably did.

They looked at the half filled condom with a small tear in the top where a thick stream was slowly pouring out of. They reached for toilet paper and disposed of the condom. Levi did his best to clean himself and put some toilet paper in his underwear, just in case, until he got to take a shower.

For the rest of the day, Farlan was very proud to hold Levi's hand around the farm, which was new, but welcome to Levi. Jean gave them a few odd looks and later asked Levi what had happened, but he just mumbled a reply to him. 

Jean did end up putting two and two together when he found the lube in the room they were all sharing and wordlessly handed it to Levi. He felt guilty, but still happy that things between him and Farlan seemed to have a solid base then.

It only lasted until they go back at school and Levi said yes to one person that asked to sleep with him. He also started hooking up with Pete from time to time, until he managed to tell himself that it was nothing and his crush was even less. 

There had been an instance where there was some discomfort between Farlan and Pete, but Levi assured Farlan that there was nothing going on. After that, Farlan seemed confident that Levi would never drop him for someone else. If he was better than Pete, then nobody was better than him.

Levi saw his dad when he climbed off of the train he took from the bus stop to his home town. He was sitting at the station and Levi walked towards him with uncertain feet. He saw him, but didn't recognize him until he was standing in front of him. The realization of his insignificance to the parent he had used to prefer made every part of his mind hurt.

"I'm coming home for the holiday." His dad announced and stood up. "And I'm bringing guests. Tell your mom." Levi could only nod. His mom wasn't at the station as she usually was. "Are you taking me home?" He asked softly. "Since when is that my job?" 

His dad left. Levi walked home. His mom was in a panic when he called her from the landline.  _'Where are you? I went to get hot chocolate for us and when I came back your train had already departed. How did you get home?'_

_'Dad brought me home.'_ The line was quiet for a moment.  _'I'll be home soon.'_

Christmas dinner was awkward. His dad brought his other family over for dinner and he could see how hard it was for his mother. He received a birthday present from the other wife with a sad smile and threw it away without even reading the card.

Grade ten was the first year they were allowed to go to the dance formal, and the first time Farlan broke Levi's heart without even realizing what he was doing.

They had to ask someone from the nearby All-Girls school if they wanted to go with a date, so when the second term started, they were given opportunities to get to know the girls and choose one for the dance. The two schools supported each other's sport events while the students were encouraged to mingle. 

It was a girl with red hair that caught Farlan's attention. "I like the way she stands out." He explained after he had spent the whole day talking to her and leaving Levi alone on the benches. "She's pretty cute and energetic. it would be awesome to go to the dance with her." 

Levi did whatever he could to grab hold of Farlan's attention again. It seemed to work, until he saw her again and Levi became an afterthought. The dance was nearing and Levi decided that he wasn't going. He couldn't stand the idea of spending the whole evening watching Farlan dance and flirt with someone else.

What probably hurt him the most was that Farlan would talk about  _her_  whenever they got intimate. The closer they got to the dance, the more Levi felt like Farlan was slipping away. But instead of letting him go, Farlan kept pulling him back, telling him how sad it was that he could't go to the dance with Levi, that he was the person always on his mind.

It took Pete less than a day to steal the girl away from Farlan and Levi decided to watch it happen instead of saying or doing anything. Farlan was participating in sport and asked her to watch. Levi saw Pete approach, watched the two of them enjoy the sport together and disappear before Farlan came back.

It was unbelievable, Levi thought, that Farlan had the nerve to ask him where the redhead was after having ditched him for her.  _'Haven't seen her. Maybe she went back to her dorm.'_  

The next time they had the chance to see each other, Farlan was going to ask her to the dance. Levi found grim pleasure in watching her turn him down.  _'There's someone else,'_  he could imagine her tell him.  _'You have someone as well, go back to them.'_  If only.

Levi wondered who was hurting more when he was the one that had to comfort Farlan. Sleeping with him felt wrong that day. The evening of the dance, Levi and Farlan were in their pj's on Levi's bed. Jean arrived with a smile and a fancy suit, but when he saw his two friends, decided to spend the evening with them instead.

He was a really good friend, Levi realized. He was glad that Jean was there to keep the balance when they couldn't.

At the end of grade ten, Levi didn't feel like going home for the holidays. He didn't want to risk experiencing another shitty Christmas and he could hear that his mom felt the same way when they spoke over the phone. Two other kids also stayed in the dorm over the holiday, so Levi wasn't lonely.

It was the best Christmas he had had in a while, to be able to sit in his room and play games on his laptop. He got a present from both Farlan and Jean when they came back for the next year. Grade eleven started on a good note for all of them.

Everything was great until Levi realized just how addicted he was to Eren and how bad he needed a change of pace. He used to think that you don't know what you have until you lose it, but now he has realized that you don't know what you're missing until you see it.

And now he had seen what Eren Yeager had to offer, but does that mean that he has to give up what he already has?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this update is out of the blue, but I felt that, since it is my birthday Wednesday, I might just as well do something special ^~^  
> I hope this chapter answers a lot of questions!  
> If there is still something that is unclear, ask about it in the comments and I'll try and work those answers into the following few chapters.


	8. Exposure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally drawing to an end, but for that to happen, there's still a few more words to be said.

Levi opened his eyes to see simple darkness for the umpteenth time. He pressed the home button on his phone to make the screen light up and saw that it was 04h17. At least it was a few hours after he had last checked.

After lights out, Levi just couldn't manage to sleep and had turned his phone on to listen to some music. He focused on the lyrics instead of everything else that threatened to surface in his mind, but he reached the end of his Playlist without falling asleep. He had gotten himself some water from the half-full bottle that was always in his school bag and tried to fall asleep again after finishing it, but sleep only came in short waves.

He sighed and sat up. He might just as well get up if he wasn't going to manage to do much more than role around by staying in bed. He made his bed and pulled his school clothes from his locker before going to the bathrooms. The halls were quiet and besides the occasional snore, Levi could barely hear the sound of his bare feet making contact with the cold floor.

The florescent lights in the bathroom were blinding, forcing Levi to squint while he walked to the shower at the very back. He dropped his clothes on the bench against the wall opposite the shower and closed his eyes while pulling his PJ's off of him. It was even colder now that he was naked, but he embraced it and moved slowly to get the shower started. 

Cold water hit his skin and Levi simply stood in it until the water started warming up. He adjusted it to get the temperature that he wanted and then just stood there. His mind was a buzzing blank space that threatened to turn into a headache at any second.

Everyone hated him. He's a waste of time according to Farlan, and Eren said he's not worth it. The bitter blue bruise on Farlan's jaw was his fault, and so is everything else. He regrets ever getting involved at all and now feels like crying instead of smiling when thinking of how kind Eren had been to him.

Eren is probably never going to talk to him again and Farlan would only have hurtful things to say to him. Jean was still there, but Levi didn't want to be the reason why he and his roommate don't get along.

There wasn't really anyone else. He had always just had his two friends and they were all that he had ever needed, but now both of them were out of reach. Because Levi couldn't make up his mind. Because he felt like he owed Farlan something. Now he owes him nothing. Whatever they had had was now gone, even if there had been unfinished things. 

But it came at a cost. Levi lost the relationship that had given him hope because he had waited until Eren was tangled in his dirty laundry and still didn't do anything to try and fix things. Thinking back, it's no surprise that Eren would give up on him. 

He gave up on himself a long time ago, too, he realized, because now he was hollow. Was he a ghost of his former self or has the illusion that he had ever been something finally dissipated, he did not know. If he'd ever be able to fill himself again, he didn't know either. That everything hurt, was all that he did know.

Levi slid down the shower wall and sat on the cool tile floor. He didn't want to leave the comfort of the warm water that would hide the tears if they ever chose to escape him. It wasn't until he heard someone else start a shower that he pulled himself together and turned off the water. He did a pretty pathetic job at drying himself off and felt uncomfortable in his uniform that stuck to the still wet parts of his skin. 

A few more boys were already in the bathroom by the time Levi was ready to leave. He walked the other way around to his room to make sure that he didn't bump into Farlan along the way. He knocked on the door to his room and opened it when Brandon didn't answer. "I'm up." His roommate answered from beneath his sheets without even opening his eyes.

Levi looked at his already made bed and then at the bundle of blankets covering his roommate. Without saying anything, Levi stepped closer to the bed and climbed onto it. He curled up on the foot of the bed, pulling himself into a small ball with his head resting in the bend of Brandon's legs under the blanket. 

Brandon let out a sigh. "You don't have to tell me anything." Levi hugged his arms around himself and it was quiet for a moment. "Do you want to have a sick day today?" Levi thought about accepting the offer, but that would leave him alone with his thoughts the whole day, as if the whole night wasn't difficult enough.

Levi stood up and picked up his blazer. "I'll see you around." Brandon sat up. "Yeah. Probably at roll call." Levi nodded and let the room. Even though he wouldn't consider Patches one of his friends, living together had taught them how to read each other and Brandon could see that this time, something had truly shaken Levi's core.

When Levi arrived downstairs, he didn't even look around for Jean and just fell into the food line. He allowed the food lady to dish up whatever she had made in his plate and sat down to eat it at the first empty table he spotted. 

Jean saw him when he was on his way to put his dirty plate at the washing area. "It looks like you barely slept a wink last night," his friend said as he sat down opposite him. Levi didn't even look up. "If you've seen Farlan, you would know why." Jean pressed his lips together. "I want to hear your side of it."

"What good would that do?" Jean sighed. "It's always good to talk about it." Levi stood up with his half empty plate. "I should go get ready." Jean stood up as well. "Levi-."

"Just leave it." He took his plate to the washing area and went to get his schoolbag. He brushed his teeth and fixed his hair before walking to the roll call area, without waiting for anyone to join him.  He hopped up onto a short wall and waited for the rest of his grade to show up. The flow of boys increased when the bell was about to ring.

The teacher went through the names and checked everyone off. When Farlan's name was called out, Levi looked up and spotted the blonde when he answered his 'here'. 

Dear Lord, it was bad. The dark blue mark stained the side of Farlan's jaw, clearly swollen, even from the distance Levi was. It was much worse than it had been the night before where he had seen Farlan at dinner. Now there was a deep purple color circling the middle and an off yellowish-green fraying the edges.

A few others spotted it as well, causing a murmur to spread through the group. "That's enough," The teacher looked at Farlan. "I want to see you after roll call."

"Yes sir," Farlan answered, and everyone knew why the teacher wanted to see him. Levi spotted Eren staring at Farlan and wished to know what he was thinking. The rest of roll call dragged on and Levi sighed when they were finally dismissed. He didn't walk straight to his next class, but pretended to look through his bag for his schedule so that he could catch a part of what Farlan was going to say.

"I take it you got in a fight?" The teacher asked and Farlan scoffed softly. "It clearly wasn't much of a fair fight, now was it?" 

"I don't want any attitude from you, I want a name. Who hit you?" Farlan looked in Levi's direction and the raven felt frozen in place. "No one, sir." The teacher looked up and saw Levi standing here. "This is a private matter, Ackerman. Get to class."

Levi slowly backed away before starting to walk to class. Once he was up the stairs, the teacher asked him again; "Who hit you?"

"No one, sir," Farlan answered again. "The school can't do anything for you if you don't tell us anything. And we can't have students walking around thinking it's okay to start fights. Now who was it?"

"There isn't anyone that thinks it's okay to start fights, sir. The school has nothing to be worried about." The teacher looked at Farlan for a long moment, but the blonde didn't give. "If something like this happens again, I expect you to tell me immediately, Church. Go to the infirmary, if that swelling is because of a chip, you need to take care of it as soon as possible."

Farlan nodded, picked up his bag, and walked to the infirmary where the biology teacher poked at his jaw more than he felt was needed. He was sent to class with an ice pack after declining the offer to have the bruise covered up. Everyone has already seen it and hiding it with some sort of makeup will only do harm to his reputation. 

With a shiner, he was bound to get respect for it, and wasn't about to throw that away. 

It was no surprise to Levi that the rest of his class was already talking about who Farlan could have gotten into a fight with when he walked in. It was also no surprise that that was the topic of the day in all the classes. Some of the teachers even joined the conversation, even Levi's Geography teacher said a few words about it while braiding his beard.

"It had to have happened at school. Probably behind a class or something, because nobody saw it happening." Someone reasoned.

"What if it has something to do with Pete? The schools have been talking about a ball to celebrate the 150 years since opening, and they still have shit from the last dance." Another one suggested.

"Yeah, they mentioned that in assembly! But would Farlan really be fighting Pete for that chick he had a fling with last year?" 

Levi closed his eyes and lied his head down on his arms. Did he count as just a fling?

"No, I think it was one of the football guys. Blondie didn't make the team he wanted to and the other teams have been getting a lot of attention recently. Could be bad blood from trials?"

"Nah, then it would have happened a long time ago. The season is halfway over already."

One of Levi's class members has been watching him for a while and finally spoke up. "You guys, what about..."

With a simple gesture, everyone was looking at Levi. With the way the class went quiet, Levi knew that they were looking at him.

"Ask him!" Someone whispered too loud. "What? No, I'm not talking to him." The one that suggested Levi said. "You ask him, you guys used to be friends."

"Yeah, in primary school."

"I don't have anything to tell you guys." Levi answered and the class went quiet again.

"Does that mean that there is something to tell?" Someone asked. Levi didn't feel like looking at whom it was.

"I don't see how it's any of your business." Levi bit back. The class started murmuring, trying to figure out why Levi would have been in a fight with Farlan.

"I didn't think you could even throw a punch," someone at the back of the class commented and Levi felt like proving that he could, but thought better of it. Instead, he picked up his bag and walked out of the class.

Levi walked to the school library on the top floor and sat there until break. He had done this a few times during the day, whenever he had a class where he sat next to Eren. He didn't know what Eren would say to him or if it would be worse if he didn't say anything at all, and didn't want to find out. He went to the bathroom once the bell signaled that it was break to waste some time before heading down to go get lunch.

When the bell signaled that it was time for lunch, Eren was the first to get out of his class. He wanted to get away from his talking classmates that he had been fearing all day. Farlan had been held back so that the teacher could ask who had punched him and he knew that he would be pulled out of class and sent to the principal if Farlan had pointed him out.

He could just imagine the reaction if it came out that the new boy started a fight.

But no teacher came for him and he couldn't understand why Farlan hadn't told anyone that it was him. Farlan sure as hell didn't owe him anything. So he decided to find him and ask him what was up.

It was the easiest to move through the middle of the school to go to where lunch is being served, so Eren waited at the edge of the open area until he spotted Farlan walking towards it. Not that he was hard to spot. 

He made his way around to where Farlan was standing with a guy he didn't recognize while said guy was getting something out of his bag. "Farlan," he called out to get the other's attention when he was close to him. 

The look on his face when he spotted Eren was pure disdain, but Eren wasn't expecting anything less. He felt bad about leaving such a mark on someone else, but he didn't exactly have eyes for Farlan either. 

"What do you want, Greenie?" Farlan stood up straighter, tried to be in charge of the situation this time. A few other kids noticed that something was going on and stood around to catch a part of their conversation. Others just kept going because few things are better than the promise of food.

"I want to know if you're expecting a thank you for not saying anything this morning." Eren said rather calmly. If they could talk this out, it would be much easier, and he was hoping that the fact that they were in the middle of the school would stop Farlan from lashing out at him.

"A thank you for not ratting you out? Do I look like a snitch to you?" Farlan bit back at him. "I'm not trying to add insult to injury, I just want to know what your deal is."

Farlan frowned and took a step closer to Eren. "There wouldn't have been an injury if it had been a fair fight. Didn't anyone ever teach you to stay away from a man when he's with a partner?"

This time it was Eren's turn to frown at him. "Levi is not your partner. He didn't even look willing, but that didn't bother you." A few kids started noticing what was going on and were gathering around them. Farlan looked to the side for a moment and clenched his jaw.

"Levi is none of your business, Greenie. You should learn to keep your distance."

"If he doesn't want me around, then fine, I'll go. But only if you back off. It doesn't take a genius to see that he doesn't want you around." And Eren meant it. The relationship Levi has with Farlan is toxic and he cares enough about him to get him out of it.

But Farlan didn't take getting advice from him too well. "What do you know? You're new here! I've been with Levi for years, and you think you can just push me away? You're the one that doesn't know your place - Levi has stuck around this long because he wants to."

"Fiiight!" someone called in the background and Eren huffed. This is ridiculous. "Then why don't you ask Levi for a change? See if he really wants to stick around instead of intimidating and manipulating him the whole time."

"But you get to fucking punch me because you don't know what's going on? We were busy sorting things out!"

"No, you were busy trying to win!" 

The two of them looked at each other. When did all of this become a competition? Perhaps it started out as one. 

"Neither of us are winning if we're just standing around like this," Farlan said. "But you don't get to walk around, thinking you've won something and pretending you know anything about Levi because you got one lucky hit."

Eren stepped back towards the open area behind them. "Fine." Farlan frowned at him while Eren spread his arms. "We'll do it fair and square. You can have the first hit, but it'll still end up the same way it did by the tree."

Farlan took off his blazer and dropped it on some bags. Eren took his own off and handed it to someone that held their hand out. He rolled his sleeves up while Farlan stepped closer. A few cheers came from the growing group around them.

"We're doing this clean?" Farlan asked while rolling his shoulders back. "I don't need that guarantee." Eren answered. Farlan scoffed. "You little fucker, you're just talk, talk, talk. Because I know Levi can take care of tough guys on his own."

"You still haven't noticed that I'm different?" Eren mocked and Farlan pulled a face at him. "You're as different as any other guy that's been in Levi's pants."

"Unlike you, I've been keeping my hands off of him." Eren shot back. "Plus what type of guy lets someone he cares about fool around like that?" It's something Eren had wanted to ask since the very beginning.

Farlan just about laughed at him. "That's naive. You're standing here, thinking you can change him?" Farlan took a step forwards, but Eren didn't flinch. He steeled himself to take the first blow like a man. "I just want to be there for him." Eren said calmly.

Farlan shook his head. "You're such an idiot for being so self righteous!" And then he hit him. It was an unpracticed move, one where he just threw himself forwards with his fist out in front of him in hopes of hitting him hard. One that was easy to dodge. Eren dipped his shoulder to the back and caught a glimpse of Farlan's fist flying past his face.

The blonde stumbled forwards, but quickly recovered. Eren's arms came up, an instinct to protect himself. Farlan tried again, bringing his fist up from below and catching Eren just below the jaw, snapping his mouth shut. Eren hissed. The blow made him bite down on a small part of his tongue an it stung. He could feel blood from the bite slowly seeping into his mouth and he hoped to finish this before he had to spit it out.

But now Farlan had gotten the first, albeit pathetic, blow. Eren jumped forwards with his elbow and hit Farlan in the side of his ribs, making him stumble back. Farlan came in with another punch and this time Eren blocked with his arms.

The crowd around them were cheering and creating a wall around them. A bunch of the boys had their fists in the air and were shouting out their support. Teachers were starting to take notice of what was happening, but the few that there were weren't enough to get though the barrier of boys watching the fight. 

Eren continued aiming for Farlan's chest while Farlan kept trying to hit his face. Eren was trying not to hurt him, he didn't want to be doing this and didn't want to get into more trouble than he already was. Would Levi even talk to him again after this? Would he ever talk to Levi again?

As much as he was willing to stand up to defend him, he was still hurt about the raven that he had given more than enough time without pushing him. 

Levi was making his way down the stairs from the library when he could hear a commotion. A few boys ran past him and he stopped one by grabbing him by his arm. "What's going on?" 

"That guy with the shiner? He's in a fight again!" Levi watched the boy run off and followed after them after dropping his bag. They were in a fight, and it was probably about him. He had to stop it, had to protect the one from the other.

He hadn't decided whom he would side with by the time he got there, but when he did, he could see Farlan tackling Eren around the middle and punching him in the stomach while Eren took it, although he was spitting out blood that was messing on the back of Farlan's white shirt and trying to wipe it from his mouth.

Levi was on the verge of panicking.

He ran down the stairs and bumped past the boys forming the wall around them to get as close to them as he could, but he could only get so far.

"Stop!" He tried shouting. "Let me through, make them stop!"

"Levi!" He heard and he saw Jean pushing through to him. "I can't get through either." Levi shoved past a classmate that backed off when he saw who it was. "We have to. Fuck, move!" 

"Hey, it's Levi!" Someone shouted and then the boys shuffled out of the way to let him through. Eren heard this and looked to the side it came from. Farlan saw it as an opportunity and punched him in the side of his head, making his ear ring and the blood spill from his mouth.

Eren reacted with more force than he had intended and swung his elbow hard into Farlan's chest, knocking his wind out. Farlan looked at him with wide eyes, gasping as he stumbled back to be caught by the wall of boys. He fell forwards onto his hands and knees and choked on his own breath, unable to get any air into him.

Eren immediately stepped forwards once he had realized what he had done and went to slap Farlan on the back to help him get his wind back, but Jean ran in and caught him by hooking his arms under Eren's armpits and dragging him back.

"His wind is out, you need to -!" He started choking on the disgusting mix of blood and spit in his mouth and Jean helped him lean forwards so that it could get out. "You need to take care of yourself first," he told him while patting his back to help get it out. "Did he knock a tooth out or something?" Eren stuck his tongue out and hissed at the open part on it. 

Levi ran straight to Farlan while Jean took care of Eren and dropped down to look at him.  Farlan clutched at his shirt over his chest and tried desperately to get a deep breath in. It barely felt like it was getting better. Levi pushed him to sit up on his knees and knocked on his back. With a gasp, Farlan started breathing properly again and closed his eyes. "Slow breaths, just breathe." Levi supported him when he slumped against him.

"What is wrong with you!" He shouted at Eren, who was busy wiping his mouth off with a tissue from Jean. He didn't get the opportunity to answer, because the principal showed up on one of the higher levels. "That's enough! The three of you, I want to see you now!"

Kids backed away for teachers to get through and gather the three that had been summoned. The teachers checked to make sure they didn't have any injuries that needed immediate attention before dropping them off at the office where the principal and the head of discipline were waiting for them. 

The teacher that had escorted them kept a close eye on them to prevent them from trying anything again until they were in the principal's hands. "Levi, sit in the middle." The raven nodded a small nod and did as he was told. The other two sat down either side of him and Levi looked down at his lap.

It felt as if someone was pressing down on his chest. He didn't want to be in there, he didn't want there to be a reason to be there. He hated the feeling of not knowing what happened, because not only was he being left in the dark, but the principal assumes that he knows what's going on.

"Whatever the reason for what happened out there, it is unacceptable and you are expected to behave yourself according to the school's rules while on the school grounds." The bell signaled the end of break and everyone in the room listened to the loud children making their way to their classes. Levi regretted not making it to the cafeteria in time to get something to eat - not that he would be able to eat now.

The principal took a slow breath that they all could hear before he continued speaking. "All three of you are going to write out what happened and then go to your classes. I want you three to come back here at the end of the day."

Eren reached for a tissue on the principal's desk and wiped some blood out of his mouth. "Eren, I want you to go to the infirmary to stop that bleeding." Eren nodded. 

The head of discipline started speaking. "I want you to know that the two of you run the risk of being suspended. You," He looked at Levi. "are looking at detention, depending on your involvement. We don't want this to get out. Leave it to the school to inform your parents."

All three of them nodded. Levi glanced at Eren out of the corner of his eye and saw him sitting with a tissue to his mouth. He looked to Farlan, but the blonde was tilted away form him and bowing his head to hide the bruise that he had.

The principal stood up and so did the three of them. "Eren, Farlan, come with me." The two of them nodded and followed him out of the room. Levi felt alone in the large room. The head of discipline put down an exam pad and a pen in front of him without a word. He looked at the paper. What was he supposed to write?

He decided to write about what happened by the tree because he wanted to get it off of his heart and write something useful. He hoped that Eren and Farlan only wrote about what had happened at break, because he didn't write the full truth. He wrote that his new relationship with Eren made Farlan jealous, he wrote that he wanted to stay on good terms with him, so he hung out with him. He wrote that Farlan tried forcing himself on him, because he did, and that he got into a fight with Eren because of it. He left out that Eren had punched him, but he knew the school would be able to read between the lines. He wrote about being too afraid to talk to either of them, and then scratched it out, saying that he distanced himself instead.

He wrote about hearing about the fight and trying to get close enough to stop it. He wrote about Jean - wait, scratch his name - about seeing someone hold Eren back and take care of him and then running to Farlan. He wrote about Farlan breathing again and then finally signed his name to say what he wrote was true. 

For a while, he he waited for the other two to finish writing and wondered what they were writing about, wondered if he was being incriminated or if the blame was being taken for him. He knew who would be doing what, and felt like that served as an answer. One he took to heart and decided to stick to. 

He felt both light and heavy, finally released with the heavy sense of loss. He wondered if his mom ever felt the same.

Levi was finally dismissed to class and walked through the empty halls to his class. He could feel everyone's eyes dig into him when he walked to his seat. It stopped for a moment when Eren walked into class with some gauze stuck in his mouth, but doubled when Eren sat down on his seat next to him. The teacher cleared his throat and tapped the board, but Levi could still feel his classmates stealing glances of them.

Eren looked worried, even though Levi was trying not to look at him, but he wasn't sitting still. Eren would move his arm, bounce his leg, fiddle with his pen. If Levi had been facing suspension, he would have been even worse.

When Eren started clicking his pen against the table, Levi half grabbed the pen, half grabbed Eren's hand. "I'm sorry," he croaked out quietly. Eren dropped the pen to squeeze Levi's hand. "Don't be."

Levi squeezed his hand back and felt like crying. What would happen if both of them got suspended? What would it be like when they came back? What was said to start the fight? Who started it? It felt like everything was out of his hands and that because of it, nothing mattered all that much. Or it mattered all too much. Everything was a buzz and he felt like just forgetting about it.

At the end of the period, Eren dropped Levi's hand and he felt cold, but Eren took it again in the next class they were together, and Levi finally felt close to him. After the last period, they walked to the principal's office together. Eren squeezed his hand harder when they turned the last corner, but only felt his heart clench when Farlan saw them and the way his soul ripped in two was visible on his face. This time he decided not to hide it, not to let go of Eren's hand just because Farlan could see it.

He would have held Eren's hand as they walked into the office together, but Eren was the one that decided to let go, and he was okay with it. There was a type of security that he would be back sooner or later.

they sat the way they did before, with Levi in the middle, but this time there were more teachers present.

"I read through all three of your accounts closely and discussed it with the disciplinary panel. I'm going to tell you our conclusions regarding an appropriate punishment in the presence of teachers of the board. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." The three of them said softly. 

The principal nodded and organized the few pages in front of him. "We're going to do this alphabetically. Levi." The boy in question looked up, feeling like a deer caught in headlights. The principal read through their decision again to make sure that he said the right thing.

He looked at Levi. "We read through your account of what has happened. It was useful in helping us understand the situation, but we have come to the conclusion that you are not guilty of anything that is against the rules of the school. However, because of the implications of what you wrote happened before the first altercation, I want you to make an appointment with Mister Pond, our school psychiatrist." 

Levi gave a weak nod. He noticed Farlan shifting next to him and wished that the principal hadn't made it obvious what he had written about. He almost felt guilty, but told himself that it was time for everything to get out.

Next, it was Farlan's turn.

The principal turned to face him. "Farlan. I believe you are aware of what you have done. For engaging in a fight on school grounds, we have decided to give you four weekend's worth of detention. However, we are considering that you should be suspended for two weeks instead for other actions that we have only recently been informed of. Your parents will be called in for a disciplinary hearing and this decision will be discussed again."

Farlan looked small in front of the principal and a bit afraid, but he nodded. The principal looked at him for a moment longer before turning to Eren. 

"I wasn't expecting this from you, Eren. However, I do understand that situations can get out of hand. You will thus also have four weekends worth of detention. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

The principal pulled out a page and had everyone in the room sign it. "Now that all the formal things are out of the way; are all of you alright?"

Levi and Eren nodded. Farlan reluctantly nodded a moment later. "That is all for today, then. You're dismissed."

The three former friends walked out of the office in a bit of a daze. There was a sense of finality, but Levi wasn't sure of what. His relationships? His problems? His ongoing uncertainty about where he stood with Farlan?

He was okay with all of it. It felt as if he finally knew what was going on in his life. And even though he doesn't wish it on him, it would be much easier to find his bearing again with Farlan out of the way for a bit.

Eren and Levi stood on one side and Farlan on the other. As they watched, Farlan threw down the pen he had used to sign back in the office and fell down onto the bench next to the door.

"Are you happy now?" he said with a bitter tone and glared at his hands that he were clenching together. "This isn't what I wanted," Eren said. Levi took his hand again.

Farlan glanced at their hands. "Yeah, well, neither did I." He slumped back in his seat and put his hands over his face.

"Come on, let's go," Eren said softly. Levi nodded and took slow steps back as Eren pulled him away. "I'm sorry," he squeaked out, and just before he turned around, he could have sworn that he saw Farlan's shoulders start to shake.

Neither Eren nor Levi said anything as they walked to the dorms. When Levi spotted Jean, Eren slid his hand out of Levi's and gave a small nod when Levi looked at him.

Levi walked to Jean where he was sitting outside and enjoying the sun. He probably had homework, they all did, so for him to be wasting time like this, he must be worried about them. After all, both of his friends were dealing with serious things and he was unable to help.

When Levi sat down next Jean, his friend decided not to say anything. Levi leaned his head on his shoulder and Jean sighed. "Are you okay?" Levi hummed. "I think I'm okay. School wants me to see the loony teacher."

Jean let out a soft chuckle. "Are you going to go?" Levi snorted. "No." Jean smiled. "So it kind of worked out?"

"Yeah," Levi said with a sigh. He sat up. "Blondie might get suspended for two weeks." Jean looked at him. "For what happened at break?" Levi shook his head. "It's more than that. Eren just got detention."

Jean looked over at Eren. "He might have a few marks himself after the bit I saw today." Levi chuckled softly. "He'd wear it with pride. At least his mouth stopped bleeding."

"Thank goodness for that. It looked really intense with him coughing up blood." Levi hummed in agreement. "It was pretty bad ass." Jean smiled. "Yeah. So I guess you two are okay now?"

"You mean Eren and me? I think so. But I think I'm going to wait and see instead of pushing for anything right now." Jean nodded. "I agree with that. Best of luck." Levi smiled and stood up. "Thanks. And hey, I won't be ignoring you now that I have a 'boyfriend'."

Jean smiled. "As if you could get rid of me." Levi smiled as well and gave a small wave before heading inside.

Somehow, it felt like things were going to be okay.

For Farlan, it was a very different story. The call he got from his parents was not a friendly one and with no one to turn to, he was dreading the disciplinary hearing, all on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was somewhat satisfying!   
> Can't believe I've made it this far.


	9. Conclusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farlan goes through his disciplinary gratitude and Levi goes through the motions of beginning a new life.

"Farlan Church," He heard his name being muttered by the secretary that's usually stationed in the information desk by the office, but who was now standing in the door of his math class and speaking to his teacher.

"We're doing important work at the moment, would he be able to go after the period has ended?" For a brief moment, Farlan felt as if the teacher that often loaded him with homework was on his side, but then he realized that Mister Jefferson didn't even know what he was being called for.

"The principal wants him now." His teacher looked at him, and even though he pretended not to notice him looking, he could see the realization dawn on him. He had clearly been in a fight. Two of them. And the principal was summoning him again the day afterwards. An occurrence that only takes place when there is a disciplinary hearing.

"He can go. I'll have a friend give him the homework." Farlan bitterly thought that if he had had any friends, he wouldn't have been feeling so shit, but that wasn't making it any better. Jean had tried making him laugh this morning, or cheer him up at the very least, but it didn't help. When he started enjoying his company during breakfast, he remembered that he was probably going to be suspended and that god knows how many days at home with only his parents were going to be a new type of hell.

"Pack your bags," His teacher said and Farlan used slow movements to place everything neatly back into his bag. The class was silent and watched without movement how Farlan dragged himself to the door, where the secretary lead him out of sight. "You don't have to bring your bag with you." The secretary told him. Farlan nodded and dropped his bag in front of some random class. 

When he got to the office, he was lead to a part he had never visited before, to a door beyond the principal's office. He could hear a few voices inside, but was instructed to sit down on a chair next to the door. "We're just waiting for your parents. They have been sent a formal declaration of the charges against you, but the principal wanted to brief them himself as well."

The 'charges' against him. He felt like he was being treated as a criminal and he was half expecting absurd jail bars to fall out of the air and surround him, to lock him in for a crime he won't ever understand.

He never thought of his actions as criminal, but he knew what was being held against him. Or what could be held against him, at least. He had seen Levi being lead back to the school and talking to the school's psychiatrist the day before. After hearing what Levi had written about in his report, he had a strong suspicion regarding what type of questions Levi was being asked.

No matter how Levi answered the questions, the school would be able to read between the lines and see the brutal reality of it. That they were minors sleeping with each other. That one minor had a skewed sense of morality, influenced by the other minor. That they were breaking the level three rule that everyone had snorted and snickered at at the beginning of grade eight when the rules were read to them.

The school allowed holding hands and hugging on school grounds, but anything more than that was already a level one offence. If you're caught kissing on school grounds, you could get detention on a Friday afternoon. If you're caught touching yourself or someone else in an inappropriate fashion, you get Friday and Saturday detention for two weeks, or four weeks of Friday detention. The principal got to decide which option would fit better and he took things such as sport and going home over weekends into consideration. 

Lastly, a level three offence always resulted in suspension. Level three was anything that counted as sex or sexual harassment, meaning that kissing Levi by the tree was already a level three offence. He felt stupid thinking about it now, because he had never needed to be forceful with Levi. How did he end up thinking that it was okay in that moment? 

Wasn't there a time that he was actually attracted to Levi, that he wanted to be with him? He couldn't understand how or where doing things with Levi became a way of manipulation instead of something that had meaning. While thinking about it, he realized that they had grown into their separate roles by bumping into each other and trying to hold on to things that didn't understand, and ended up bending in the wrong directions.

He was the way he was because of Levi and Levi was the way he was because of him. They didn't allow each other to grow, so they shot out in odd directions.

It was still no excuse.

With Eren hanging around as a threat and thoughts about how he could solidify his bases again brooding in his mind, Farlan never allowed himself the clarity of mind to see how he was messing up.

Farlan's parents walked past him and opened the door to go into the still unknown room. They slowed as they passed him and looked at him. His mom looked furious in her calm way that he had seen all too often as a little kid and his dad was giving him a strict look. If anything, Farlan was not prepared for what was to come.

The secretary that had lead the Church parents in gestured for Farlan to walk in as well. It was a meeting room and Farlan felt out of place in his haphazardly thrown on school clothes in between men in proper suits.

The principal stood up once everyone was seated, school officials and parents on one side of the long table, Farlan, Levi and the school psychiatrist on the other. Farlan had been instructed to sit in the middle, opposite the principal, and Levi sat towards the end of the table.

He felt alone in front of the most intimidating group of people he had ever met.

The principal stood up and cleared his throat. "Now then, we will now start this disciplinary hearing, code 0904168235.  This disciplinary hearing will be held in accordance with the framework as laid out in the Schools Act and subsequent amendments, including Departmental circulars and minutes which clarify the procedure to be followed today."

The man speaking paused and looked around to make sure that everyone had finished writing down the code number. "I will start with introductions." He looked at Farlan as he spoke. "To the right, we have the two representatives of the school board, Misters Jason Clarke and Michael Fourie. Next to them is the school's lawyer, Mister Gerhard van Heerden. 

"The head of discipline, Mister David Lourie is beside me, and then I, principal of Sina Boys High, Deacon Bester, am present. To the right, Mister and Misses Church are here to witness today's events, a member of the Department of Education, Mister Sean Michaels, is next to them, and then my secretary, Misses Nicola Boysen, is next to me."

Farlan felt embarrassed as the principal introduced everyone, because he felt that the amount of people in the room was unnecessary. 

"On the opposite side of the table, we have our psychiatrist, Miss Merina Martin, our witness, Levi Ackerman, and finally, Farlan Church. The reason why we are all gathered here today." It took a lot out of Farlan not to shrink into his chair, but it was a persistent temptation.

"We have no absentees today," The principal continued. "The procedure will be as follows: the charges against the learner will be presented by David Lourie, Levi Ackerman will be given the opportunity to testify, alongside Merina Martin. The learner, Farlan, and his parents will be allowed to respond, the panel will ask questions and then all involved parties will be excused. After a discussion by the panel, the involved parties will be informed of the outcome and the procedure of punishment will be discussed if a punishment is to be given."

The principal looked around and everyone nodded in agreement. It was time to get started. Deacon Bester sat down and handed the floor to David Lourie, who started explaining the nature of the charge against Farlan.

"Farlan Church is being charge of the level three offense of sexual harassment, reported by Levi Ackerman in a written document that all the members of the panel have been given a copy of. After further discussion with the student, Miss Martin has reported the possibility of ongoing sexual harassment. According to the rules at they are stipulated by the school and approved by the Department, the standard punishment is suspension and possible expulsion, if the learner poses a threat to other students."

A page was handed to Farlan and his parents with the charges typed out on it. The head of discipline took his seat. "The witnesses will now be given the opportunity to testify." The principal announced.

Levi was prompted to stand, and even next to Miss Martin, he appeared short. Miss Martin took charge of the floor. 

"There was an incident that occurred on school grounds during break yesterday that lead to Levi, Farlan and one other learner being brought to the office. Upon reading the declaration by Levi, Mister Bester thought it best to hand it over to me and have me set up an appointment with Levi. I had a meeting with him yesterday after school hours and he confessed to the following."

She picked her thin-rimmed glasses up from the table and straightened a page while she put them on. "He admitted to being in an ongoing relationship with the learner in question and that that often included consensual sexual activities, on and off of school grounds. However, Levi had admitted that this has changed in the last few weeks and that the learner in question has been, and I quote; 'more forceful and stopped caring about what I asked for'. He thus stopped showing regard for Levi's wishes and became guilty of sexual harassment, although Levi was reluctant to go into detail on the matter. I thought it wise not to push more details out of him."

And then she paused. "I would like to suggest that since previous acts were consensual, they be excused for it so that the focus can remain on the charges at hand."

"Thank you, Miss."

The members of the panel wrote down important bits and finished up in the pause after Miss Martin had spoken. The principal gave Levi an encouraging nod. "It's your turn to speak. You can say whatever you feel is necessary, as long as it is true. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand, sir."

The principal picked up his pen. "Tell the panel what happened during the incident where the first altercation between Farlan Church and Eren Yeager took place."

Levi nodded and swallowed to clear his throat. Farlan looked up for the first time to look at Levi while he spoke. Even though he looked small, he knew that the raven was everything but weak. 

"It happened in the afternoon. Farlan and I weren't getting along well at the moment and I wanted to clear the air, so I suggested that we walk around the sport fields. We walked to a tree on the corner of the far field before saying much. I later found out that another learner that had been worried had decided to follow us there. 

"When we got there and Farlan kissed me against the tree, I thought it was a sign that we had made up and went with it, because I preferred it over us being awkward with each other. In between, Farlan mentioned that he had seen this other learner following us. I didn't want him to catch us doing what we were doing, so I attempted to push Farlan away, but the more I did, the more persistent he was. It wasn't until the other student removed him that he stopped."

Farlan thought about what Levi had said. He would never have guessed that Levi was feeling that way when they were kissing, this it was just 'better than fighting', but now that he had said it, it was too obvious that that was what he had been feeling. He felt like he must have been blind to miss it.

"We understand that there had also been a verbal confrontation." The principal prompted. Levi glanced sideways to Farlan. "There's nothing I wish to repeat, sir."

The principal nodded and Levi sat down. 

"Mister and Misses Church, Farlan, you now have the opportunity to respond to the charges of sexual harassment. This is where you plead guilty or non guilty, if I may state it that way, and where you must prove that you are not a threat to other students if you wish to avoid expulsion."

Farlan looked at his parents, but they were obviously waiting for him to say something first. He took a deep breath and pushed himself up from his chair. He looked at the panel in front of him and then to Levi before avoiding all eye contact.

"I did what he said..." He said relatively soft. "I have nothing to say against it. I don't know why I thought - I don't know what I was thinking, but I'm not a threat to other students." He clenched his hands by his sides. What a low thing, to call someone a _threat_. To ask them to prove that they're not a threat after messing up once.

Had he messed up bad enough to be called a threat? He looked at all the faces directed towards him in the room. They were looking at him like a child that had refused to take no for an answer and now had to learn what consequences were, even though they were treating him in such an adult fashion.

He preferred that to being branded as some offender.

"I almost can't believe that this is all because of something my son had done," Farlan's mom said and he wanted to shrink away. "But I can testify that Levi and Farlan had been in some form of a relationship and that, at least up to a point, things were consensual." 

"They were," Levi added and Farlan was almost relieved. Levi wasn't using the opportunity to get him in as much trouble as possible, but rather to simply bring out the truth.

"Do you want to add something, Mister Church?" Farlan's dad wasn't looking at him. "Not in the presence of the panel, Deacon." The principal nodded. "Very well then. Is that all?"

Levi spoke one more time. "I don't know if I should have said it earlier, but Farlan hasn't ever done anything to anyone else. And the fight with Eren was a one time thing. We've been friends since primary school and he really isn't a danger to other students."

"Thank you, Levi. We will take that into consideration." Farlan slowly sat back down and the room was quiet for a bit again while the panel made notes. "Alright then, any questions?" 

The principal looked to the members of the panel and one member of the board, Gerhard van Heerden, leaned forwards to address Farlan and Levi. "Are the two of you still in a relationship?"

Farlan looked to Levi for an answer, but Levi's 'No' was as sharp and as clear as day. It stung, but in a way that Farlan noticed he was prepared for. They were over, and they both knew it.

Sean Michael, the representative of the Department, spoke next. "This other student, Eren, is he involved in this matter?"

"No, sir." Farlan answered. He honestly didn't want Eren even deeper in his business. The man addressed the panel. "This student could deliver further testimony if necessary. What is his full name so that we can call him in if it's necessary."

"Eren Yeager. He's in our grade." Levi answered. Farlan just sat and looked at the part of the table in front of him.

"Are those all of the questions?" The principal asked and everyone nodded. "Then we ask that everyone that is not a part of the panel is excused." Levi stood up and Farlan followed his lead. The psychiatrist politely asked Farlan's parents to follow her before she lead them all out of the room. The principal's secretary joined them and closed the door once they were out of the room. 

"Please, come this way." They were lead to the front of the office where there were seats for them. Levi pulled a book out of his blazer pocket that Farlan had seen Eren handing him that morning and started reading it. Farlan sat down and closed his eyes. His parents were muttering among themselves. The ride home was going to be a long one.

They were left there for quite a while and the secretary had to return to her duties. The psychiatrist remained seated between Levi's seat and Farlan's parents' seats. Farlan looked at Levi, sat there staring at him for a while until Levi noticed and looked up at him.

Levi didn't look mad at him, in the contrary, Levi's expression softened, but Farlan felt too guilty and looked away. He looked down at his lap and intertwined his fingers together. He wanted to speak to Levi, listen to him shout at him if he wanted to, or maybe stumble over his words, because he knows he won't find it easy to talk to Levi. Anything would be better than the silence they were forced to share.

They sat there for quite a while and even heard children moving from class to class at one point. Levi occasionally checked on his phone and Farlan wished to know who he was talking to. He wished to know everything about Levi now, because he felt like it would be his last chance.

Farlan's parents were called in by the principal and remained in the room for a long time. When they came out, the principal handed them over to his secretary so that they could sign the necessary documents. Farlan resigned to defeat. He knew what that meant.

He still had to go back into the meeting room with the principal. He looked back at Levi one last time before going into the room. He sat down where he had been seated before and pressed his hands to his knees under the table.

"Farlan Church," the principal read after being seated. "We had a long discussion about what we were to take into account and what to excuse and decided to excuse the consensual activities that have taken place on school grounds. However, we cannot excuse the suggestion of repeated sexual harassment. Therefore you will be suspended for the maximum amount of seven school days, as allowed by the Department."

Farlan's throat felt tight, but he nodded. 

"Your parents will take you home today, but have made it clear that they wish to see me once this is through. In that time, you will attend what is left of your last period of the day and then pack up your belongings in the dormitory."

"Yes sir," He pushed the words out.

"Please sign this that our lawyer has written, just to say that you did attend this disciplinary hearing today, and then you are excused."

Farlan signed the page that was handed to him before standing up and being lead out of the room by the principal. Everyone else in the room was also busy gathering their things to leave.

When they arrived by the front desk again, Eren was standing there with Levi. "Mister Yeager, you are late for your class," the principal said. "I know sir, but I came to walk Levi to class with me."

The principal nodded. "He is excused." He looked at Farlan. "All three of you should be getting to class, and don't let me see you in my office again." They all said 'Yes sir' and left for class.

Eren was ready to walk off with Levi, but the raven hung back. "Farlan," he said, and it surprised the blonde. "Are you leaving?" Levi asked him carefully. "Just for a while," he answered softly and smiled a crooked smile. He didn't want Levi to feel like anything was his fault.

"We'll come say goodbye this afternoon." He could see Eren squeezing Levi's hand, but he knew they would both be there before he left. He nodded and then turned to go to class, and could hear Eren and Levi walking off in the opposite direction. 

Levi was thankful for his last period, because they had the period to do homework. He told Eren the basics of what had happened in the disciplinary hearing, but made sure to keep it quiet, because he didn't want stories of it spreading.

"How do you feel about all of this?" Eren asked, and it took Levi a moment to think of an answer. "I'm okay. It feels like this was supposed to happen? If that makes any sense. But it also feels like everything is finally over."

Eren was quiet for a moment. "Is everything over? Do you want some distance from the whole dating scene?"

Levi looked at him. "You're my dating scene at the moment. Last time we spoke about it, we were something, if you still want that?" As embarrassing as it was to address the topic directly, Levi felt like it was time to sort everything out in the easiest way possible, and that meant talking about it.

"Yeah, I still want that." There was a small smile on Eren's lips. "But, uhm... maybe we should be more than just a something? I mean, tell me if you feel this is too fast, but I want to tell you what I'd like to have if we're ever... more."

Levi could see that it was a little bit of a rehearsed speech and he thought it was cute that Eren was so nervous about it. He could also see where it was going, but didn't want to beat Eren to the punch. "What would you want?"

Eren took a quick, but deep breath. "I want to be able to say that we're dating. Tell people you're mine and not have them laugh at me because I should know that I'm... you know, sharing."

Levi bumped Eren's shoulder with his own. "You don't have to look so worried. I want that too. It would be nice to have an actual boyfriend." Eren visibly brightened up. "Really?" Levi smiled. "Really."

Eren smiled and turned back to the work he was only half doing. "That would be great. But still, I'll wait if you'd rather we do it later." Levi lost focus halfway through the word he was writing and lazily scribbled over it. "I, uh, I thought you were asking now."

The smile on Eren's face only grew. "No, I like being a bit fancier than that. Even though first impressions might suggest otherwise." Levi chuckled something. "That's without even talking about your first impression of me. I've set the bar high for you, Yeager."

Eren bit his lower lip and worked it between his teeth while writing some bullshit answer in his book. "So, you want us to, well, do things?" Levi shrugged, because he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. "We'll see if things go there, but I'm not opposed." Eren nodded in agreement.

The bell signaled that it was the end of the day and all of the classes started packing up. Eren and Levi walked out of the class after Eren insisted on carrying Levi's bag. "Have you ever done things?" Levi asked. Eren took a breath and hummed. 

"I've obviously done some things, I mean, we made out once, but other than that... Look it only happened a few times, okay, but I've received oral and that's about it."

Levi kind of liked how shy yet confident Eren was about it. He struggled to get it out, but fought his words until he finally said what he wanted to.

"Living the life, aren't you," he teased Eren and Eren playfully stuck his tongue out at him. "I'm happy with what I've got." 

They walked back to the dorms and slowed when they saw Farlan sitting where they usually sat at breaks. They walked over to him and Eren extended a hand to him. Farlan took it and they shook. "I hope that mark is gone when you come back. But I know I'll be feeling this one for weeks." Eren rubbed the side of his head.

Farlan chucked softly. "It was a good fight. But I'll see you around."

"Yeah." Eren looked to Levi before he left them alone, saying that he had to go put their bags down. Levi sat down next to Farlan. "We're officially over..." Farlan said while playing with some grass in his hand. "Maybe it's better this way." Levi said softly, hoping it was comforting.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I'm going to miss having you." Farlan admitted. Levi didn't say anything and waited for him to continue. "I know, eventually, I'll be glad that we ended it here, but I can't believe that it took all this shit happening for me to realize that I had loved you at some point. And that I allowed that to slip away."

"You're making it sound like the end of the world," Levi said, hoping that it would get a chuckle out of Farlan and steer the conversation in a better direction. But the chuckle he got from him was a sad one. "I think it is the end of the world as I know it. You know, of all the ways I ever imagined this ending, cheating was not one of them."

"I never cheated on you." Levi said.

"Oh yeah?" Farlan threw the grass down and sighed. "Then how come Eren was different from all the rest? It's because you started liking him and you got so caught up in falling for him that you never bothered to mention when you stopped liking me."

Levi didn't know what to say to that. He wiped at his left eye, trying to hide tears before they even showed.

"I'm not going to keep it against you, Levi, I want to come back next week and really be 'nothing' the way we've been pretending to be, but... even with that, I'm still the one that messed up."

"I never wanted things to end up this way. We were in Primary school when we got twisted up in the wrong way." Levi leaned his head on Farlan's shoulder and felt the blonde struggle not to shake. It was a surprise, but he definitely heard Farlan apologize.

"I'm so sorry..." The said softly and Levi squeezed his eyes shut. He felt a warm tear roll down his cheek and heard Farlan take a shaky breath before he cleared his throat. "My parents will be here soon. They went to get the car and drive around to this side of the school. And I still need to go pack."

"Yeah..." Levi sat up so that Farlan could get onto his feet. "Farlan." He waited for the blonde to look at him before he continued. "I'm sorry too. But I'll be looking forwards to when you come back." A wry smile tugged at Farlan's lips. "I'll be expecting a welcome back party." he said jokingly and they both let out a small laugh.

"Bye," Levi said finally and Farlan gave a lazy wave before walking into the dorm. Levi pulled his knees to his chest and dropped his forehead onto his knees. A few moments later, Jean came out and spotted Levi sitting outside. 

Jean sat down next to him. "Hey. Farlan told me you were out here-" Levi fell sideways to lean against Jean's shoulder, but didn't lift his head. "Hey, are you okay?" Levi shook his head and started shaking. A sob escaped him and Jean quickly wrapped his arms around Levi.

Levi melted against Jean and cried into his shirt. Jean hugged him and held him, ignoring the few passing students that stared at them. "It's okay, Levi. It's okay." Eren came out a while later to check on Levi and came to them when he saw them. 

"I-I'm okay," Levi tried saying when he heard Eren and tried wiping his face clean with the tissue Jean had given him. "No one is asking you to be." Eren reassured him while he helped him up. Levi took a few deep breaths to try and calm down. He eventually breathed evenly while hugged to Eren's chest.

"I think we should call it a day." Jean said as they headed inside. They walked Levi to his room and decided to give him some space. "I'll tell Patches to hang somewhere else for today." Jean said and Eren nodded.

They both headed their separate ways, Eren to bury himself in homework and Jean to go help Farlan pack. It had been a long day for all of them. Farlan went home a short while later and got speeches from both his mom and his dad all the way back. Seven days of not being allowed to do anything and apparently years of never going out again were his forland. A small part of him kept reminding him that he deserved it. 

Levi was okay the next day, and without having to worry about running into Farlan around every corner, it was easy for him to adapt to this new lifestyle. And of course, Eren asked him out.

It was almost ridiculous, which made Levi just love it more.

Eren had given him a book that Levi had seen him flipping through before, telling him that it was definitely worth the read. It wasn't something he would peg as Eren's type of book, but decided to read the 1960 farm-based novel in any ways. It was a cute story, mixed with new wealth, old values and forbidden love.

It was also a relatively short book to read, so he finished it on Saturday while waiting in the dinner line.

But that wasn't the important part. The important part was the sticky-note Eren had stuck on one of the pages in the second last chapter.

Levi reached that page while killing time in his English period. He was sitting next to Jean, who wanted to finish his homework before the weekend started, and grabbed his arm suddenly when he saw it.

Jean almost had a heart attack and scribbled on his page after Levi grabbed his arm.

The sticky-note was stuck under the climax statement in the book, where the main character finally asked the girl out in front of everyone, after hiding their relationship with for so long.

The part read: " 'Suzanne, will you please go out with me?' His mother gasped and his sister silenced her before she could stay anything. Everyone in the room waited with bated breath for her answer. Suzanne smiled and answered in a witty way he knew to expect from her. 'Hendrik, answer this first. Will you be my boyfriend?' "

Eren had underlined 'Will you be my boyfriend' and stuck a green note under it. The note said:

 _A: Yes_  
_B: A_  
_C: You went too far and actually meant B_

It was so cheesy. He hid his smile behind his hand and bit his lip so that a happy little laugh didn't escape him. Jean looked at the page and smiled a knowing smile. "It was about time."

Levi suddenly looked at him with wide eyes. "What do I do now? How weird would it be to go up to him and say 'I saw your note and I liked it.'?" He snapped the book shut and dropped his head on the table. Jean laughed softly and rubbed Levi's back. "Why don't you just pretend that you find it while you're with him?"

"That.... is a great idea." Levi sat up. Jean shook his head and smiled.

So, that night, while they were waiting in line for dinner and Jean had already headed home for the weekend, Levi pulled his book out and started reading from where he had put his bookmark earlier, just two pages before the little note.

Eren casually asked what page he was on and was clearly nervous when he got his answer. Levi schooled his expression until he reached the note. He took a moment to read it and then allowed himself to smile, because Eren was looking at him with wide open eyes and looked like he was regretting ever doing it this way and he loved it.

"A. And B. C too, for good measures." Levi laughed at the end of his sentence as Eren pulled him into a hug. "Really?" Levi hugged him back. "Yes, really. Definitely."

They both hugged a moment longer before holding hands for most of the weekend. Jean congratulated them when he came back Monday to see his two beaming friends.

Jean, being the great friend that he was, pretended not to know about everything and listened to Eren's excited explanation of how he had asked Levi out. They were cute together and Jean was happy for them. 

Even with the good news, not everything was behind them.

News spread like wildfire after Farlan was seen leaving with his bags. Everyone that had been around to witness the fight and had noticed the tension between Eren and Farlan was talking about it and they quickly figured out the basics of it.

Rumors were flying around. He was the last one to fool around with Levi _and look what happened to him!_ Because of this, nobody tried approaching Levi anymore and he was thankful for it. Although, he had been hoping for the opportunity to say 'Sorry, I have a boyfriend' to someone.

The rumors didn't stop there either.

News also spread that he was officially an item with Eren and being teased about it in class wasn't all that unwelcome. When Farlan came back after seven school days, Levi had been a bit worried about how he would react, but he had joined in with the teasing and it was always good-hearted fun. Nobody had anything to say to them about it that wasn't positive.

Eren, Levi and Farlan still talked occasionally and would hang out whenever they were all in Jean's room, but most of the time, Farlan kept his distance. He grew closer with another group of friends and the two groups soon ended up sitting together at dinner. Levi enjoyed the new company and was glad that Jean wasn't left on his own if he decided to sneak off early with Eren for some innocent, level one fun.

Everything finally felt right. And Levi finally understood why change, as painful as it could be, had been necessary. He had Eren to thank for it. He had him to thank for most of the good things in his life.

Most of all, he had Eren to thank for showing him that he was more than worth it to be this happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for the plot :)   
> That makes this the first book I have ever finished! 
> 
> Enjoy the extra chapter with some R-18 content.


	10. Extra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Eren's birthday, about a year after everything that happened in the last chapter. I felt it was necessary to bind everything together.

Levi jumped out of bed and dismissed the alarm on his phone. He pulled on the shoes he had put by his bed the night before and quickly made his bed.

"Hey, Patch, wake up." His roommate groaned and Levi shook him. "Come on, you need to wake up the grade tens today." Brandon glared at him in the dark. "Tell me again why I'm doing your shift today?" Levi was already halfway to the door. "Because it's Eren's birthday and I need to go wake him up."

Levi intentionally left the door open so that Brandon would get up. He sneaked down to Eren's room and quietly opened the door. His roommate was still sleeping, but Levi had asked him permission to come into the room on this morning.

He climbed onto Eren's bed and lied down on top of him. Eren groaned softly and tried turning onto his back. Levi pushed up enough to allow him to do that before kissing his cheek. "Good morning, legal eagle." Levi whispered into his ear before pressing more kisses to his cheek.

Eren hummed and smiled. "It's morning already?" Levi chuckled softly and nodded. "Happy birthday," he said before kissing him. Eren brought his hands up from under the covers to cup Levi's cheeks and deepened the kiss gradually.

Levi hummed softly and settled into the kiss as their lips parted for their tongues to slowly move against each other. They moved a bit to try and get Levi in under the warm covers with Eren, but were interrupted when Gecko groaned and rolled over with a loud shuffle of sheets. "I can hear you guys making out from over here."

The cute couple couldn't stifle their small laughs and ended up breaking the kiss. "I did ask," Levi said and turned around so that his back was to Eren's chest. He moved his arms so that he could hold Eren's hand when it came to hug around his waist. "Yeah, to wake Eren up, not me."

Eren tickled Levi's side and the raven started squirming while trying not to giggle. "Who else did you bother this morning to come wake me up?" Eren teased and Levi laughed out a 'Nobody, nobody, I promise.'

Prince Charming knocked on the door and told them to get up. "What if we don't want to?" Eren answered and they heard their head boy laugh. "Your birthday privileges are limited, Greenie." Eren sighed and hugged Levi close for good measure. "Looks like we have to get up."

Levi squeezed Eren's hand before letting go and standing up. "I'll see you at breakfast." Eren nodded and sat up. "Yeah, I'll be there soon. Just need to get dressed first" Levi greeted Gecko before walking back to his room. 

"You look happy for this early in the morning."Farlan commented, and Levi looked up to see him walking in the opposite direction with his shower supplies and school uniform. "It's Eren's birthday today," Levi answered, but he didn't stop walking. "Nice, he's finally 18. I'll congratulate him later."

"Yeah, he'd appreciate it." Levi answered over his shoulder. Because he and Farlan had been friends for such a long time and Farlan had meant so much to him when his life had been difficult, Levi promised himself that he wouldn't just cut Farlan out of his life. However, that turned out to be harder than he had hoped.

During the time Farlan had been suspended the year before, Eren was really there for him to help him get over Farlan. When he came back, Farlan was the sweet, cool kid that Levi used to be friends with back in primary school. It was easy to talk to him in the passing and once Levi got to know the new group Farlan was hanging out with, they started seeing each other a lot more.

Old habits never die, apparently, because it only took so long for Farlan to get a bit too comfortable with Levi again. With hugs came hands that wondered just a bit too much, his arm would casually be around Levi's shoulders when Eren wasn't there, he'd tell him to come with them, hang out a bit after school,  _but you don't have to bring Eren - you know that Greenie probably has things to do._

Levi didn't notice it at first, but once he did, he didn't like it. It was obvious that Eren didn't like it either. They drifted away from the group by cutting themselves off. They would sit inside with Jean during break or just avoid them after school until everyone got the message. Farlan still tried talking to Levi whenever he could think of a reason to do so, but from January, Levi had made a point out of it to make sure that the conversation never went anywhere.

At times he did miss him. He wasn't going to deny it, but he wasn't going to succumb to it either. Life was definitely better now than it had been before and he wasn't about to throw it away because of some homesickness of sorts.

After all, Farlan's hold wasn't exactly what he wanted to keep seeing as home.

Once he arrived back at his room, Levi closed the door so that he could get dressed. He turned on the light in the room before stripping off his PJ's. He buttoned up his school shirt and tucked it into his pants. He put his shoes on before popping his collar to start tying his tie.

The new ties were actually pretty cool. They were a solid red color with the school emblem is black near the top if it was tied properly. He stood out at a Grade 12 and it actually got him a lot of respect. He never expected small things such as being allowed to walk into rooms first or having younger grades stand up for him if he walked into a class to make him feel so valued.

Of course, it came with responsibilities, such as getting up early to wake up the other grades and looking after a Grade 8 boy for the year, but so far, it is turning out to be his best school year yet. He decided to make it a tradition and named his Grade 8 Mickey so that they became the 'Mickey Mouse Duo' the way he had been with his buddy in Grade 8.

Eren named his buddy 'Reds' because the ginger boy blushed more than he didn't. Their buddies were friends, but that was probably because Eren and Levi had hung out together during initiation, resulting in Mickey and Reds being around each other a lot. 

Levi decided to leave his blazer in the room and draped it over his school bag before heading downstairs. When he got there, Jean was already in the line to get some food and keeping a spot for Levi.

He fell into the line and said good morning to his friend. "Geez, I'm so glad today is Friday," Jean said and Levi nodded in agreement. "Thank you for arranging that we can all go to your place tonight." Jean brushed it off. "Can you imagine going out for Eren's birthday and then sitting with a hangover at school Saturday? I'd rather not." Levi spotted Eren heading towards them. 

"Shh, remember that he doesn't know yet." Jean nodded before smiling at Eren. "Look at you, birthday boy." Eren smiled and accepted Jean's outstretched hand. Jean patted Eren's shoulder with is other hand while they shook. "Congratulations." Jean said and Eren thanked him.

"Do you have any plans for the day?" Jean asked, so that he had a cover-up story. "Not really? Just not doing homework and then spending the evening with Levi. He said there was something he wanted us to do." Eren slid his hand into Levi's and Jean raised an eyebrow at his friends. 

"Remember, you're not allowed to rock the dorm rooms." Eren blushed the way he always did and laughed a bit. Levi stuck his tongue out at Jean before laughing with them. They all dished up and sat down at their usual table. A few other friends joined them or congratulated Eren as they passed by them.

It clearly meant a lot to Eren that he had been accepted so well into the school and that a lot of people remembered his birthday. Levi had seen how Eren appreciated good wishes on his birthday the year before, so he made sure to remind as many people as possible during the week. He was glad that it was paying off.

A few of his other friends wished him a happy birthday before they headed back upstairs to finish up. Levi fell into the bathroom line with his blazer and school bag with Eren. They talked about this and that while waiting for their turn to brush their teeth. Levi waited with Eren while he shaved - they were checking that today - and laughed at him when he pulled a funny face at Levi in the mirror.

Levi put his ascot cap on once they were outside and they waited for Jean before they walked to the school. They were on time for roll call and answered when their names were called out while teachers moved between the boys to make sure all of them looked the way they had to. A few boys were told to cut their hair the weekend, but Eren and Levi passed the bar.

Class seemed to fly by and before they knew it, it was time for lunch. Jean and Connie offered to get lunch for all of them while Eren and Levi sat on their usual spot on the grass. Eren leaned back on his palms and Levi moved to rest his head on Eren's thigh.

"I know Jean was joking this morning, but..." Levi opened his eyes and looked up at Eren. "We don't have to do anything today."

Soon after they had started dating, Eren and Levi figured out exactly what they were willing and not willing to do. They held hands, pretty much all the time, and Levi loved it. They also shared sweet kisses and weren't bothered when the kisses turned into something a little more.

However, Eren wasn't too eager to have Levi's hand in his pants. They did eventually get around to it and even though it was less than often, Levi did get to treat Eren by getting him off. Eren was sweet and always wanted to return the favor, but Levi was more than happy with just making out with him afterwards. The few times that Levi did allow him to return the favor, it was a little awkward until Eren got the hang of it.

Sex was nowhere near the table and while they discussed it, Eren had told Levi that he wanted to wait until his eighteenth birthday before they do it. 

After how big of a deal it was the first time Levi have him head, he figured it was a good idea to leave that until later, but now it was later and Levi didn't want Eren to feel he was being pushed into doing it by some agreement they made the year before. 

Eren slid his hand into Levi's hair and gently scratched at his head, a touch that Levi found relaxing. "Yeah... but I've been thinking about it and I kind of want to? I thought it through a few times and I think we're ready for it. Well, I'm ready for it. If you are. You still... you still obviously have a say in it."

Levi reached up to cup Eren's cheek. "I think it would be a special moment. I just want us to wait until we have a good moment for it. And not at school where we have to worry about someone finding us."

A soft chuckle came from Eren. "I was so nervous the first time you went down on me, oh my goodness..." Levi laughed a bit. "I told you the door was locked." Eren smiled and put his hand over Levi's on his cheek. "But yeah, definitely not at school."

"Talking about a party?" Connie asked as he neared them with food. "You know it," Levi answered and sat up. Eren smiled and thanked Jean for handing him a plate. "Levi's taking care of Eren tonight. Probably wants to show him how to get it on on the dance floor before the rest of us get to him." Jean sat down next to Eren and received a playful jab to the ribs. 

The four of them continued to talk over lunch and had a good time. After break, they all went back to their classes until everyone was dismissed for the weekend. Eren was congratulated a few more times and scolded once for pulling Levi into a brief kiss after a cute moment in Math class. 

Levi took Eren's hand and walked back to the dorms with Eren. "Are you finally going to tell me what we're going to do today?" Eren asked and Levi just smiled.  "You'll know soon, but first you need to go upstairs and pack."

"Pack?" Eren asked and Levi nodded. "Pack what?" Levi gave him a summary of what type of closed to pack and sent Eren off to do so when he started asking about where they would be sleeping over, considering he had to pack 'something comfortable to sleep in'.

Levi went to the cafeteria and found Jean waiting for him. "Hey. My mom is almost here." Levi smiled. "Great. I'm just going to get my bag and then we can get going. Where is everyone else?" Jean gestured towards the stairs leading to the rooms. "Grabbing their bags. We're all excited to get going."

Levi jogged up to his room to put on causal clothes and get his bag before stopping by Eren's room. He was just zipping up his bag. "Do you have everything?" Levi asked. "I hope so." Eren answered. "How do I look?" Levi smiled. "Much better than you do in your uniform." Eren chuckled and picked up his bag. "And I thought you loved me in my uniform."

"That's still true." Levi said while taking his hand. Eren blushed a bit, but accepted the compliment. When they arrived downstairs, there was a small group of Eren's friends. The way the brunet smiled when he saw everyone was simply precious.

Everyone went to the school entrance where Jean's mom was waiting with a family van. Jean jumped in in the front, next to his mom. Levi and Eren headed for the backseat and Connie joined them. In front of them, Gecko and Jake climbed in. Levi didn't know Jake all that well, but he was someone that moved over to their side after Levi distanced himself from Farlan's group. He was good friends with Eren, so he was invited, and Levi planned on using the evening to get to know him better as well.

"So... Where are we going?" Eren tried again. "We're not telling you until we get there," Jean said and looked back at them from his front seat. "But you better be ready to party!" The boys in the car cheered and Jean's mom chuckled.

It was a twenty minute drive in which they talked and joked about a lot of nonsense. By the time they arrived at the restaurant and bar, they were all in the mood to have a great time. They got a big table for the six of them and ordered two full sets of ribs, three nacho pans, cheesy fries for everyone and Buffalo wings, because Eren had never had them before and that had to be remedied.

When they were nearing the end of the meal that they were all sharing, Jean and Gecko were chosen to go get drinks for the whole table. Eren  and Levi were given jugs of almost alcohol-free beer and the group convinced them to jug them. The group applauded and cheered them on, most of them cheering for Eren, because he was winning, but Levi somehow sped up towards the end and finished just before him.

They all drank a single shot of tequila to celebrate Levi's victory. Most of them pulled faces at it and Jean was glad that he had his camera focused on Eren to capture it. "If that's what it tastes like, I can get why people resorted to lemon and salt to make it better," Gecko commented. They all laughed.

Everyone pooled their money together to pay for the meal and agreed to stick Eren, so that he didn't have to pay anything for his birthday. He thanked them all for it. They really did make the day special for him.

But the day wasn't over. It was just before eight when they arrived at Jean's house for a sleepover. They played typical sleepover games, watched a movie, played video games and even went for a late night swim.

None of the boys were told they were going to swim and none of them had swimsuits at school in any ways, so they all ran out and jumped into the cold water in their undies. It was quite a joke when everyone saw Eren's Spider-Man boxers, but he said they were a gift from his mom and he would wear them for as long as they were comfortable.

"Hey Levi," He turned around and saw Eren swimming towards him. "Yeah?" Levi put his glass down next to the pool where everyone else's is. Eren stopped swimming and stood up, rising quite a bit out of the water. "Did you arrange all  of this?" He asked while drifting his hands around Levi's sides.

"I thought you deserved a little something for your birthday. Especially since you helped me get home on mine." Eren smiled a bit. "It sounded like you really wanted to go. Besides, your mom did most of the arranging. All I did was call her and help pay for it."

Levi leaned forwards to hug Eren around his hips. "Well, it meant the world to me."

Eren smiled and sunk down into the water to hold Levi. The raven smiled at him. "So, mister big guy, has it been a happy birthday so far?" Eren pretended to consider it. "There's just one thing I'd still like for us to do." Levi hummed and slid his arms up to around Eren's neck. "And what would that be?"

Eren's fingers danced around Levi's hips and he gave his boxers a light tug. "Since we aren't spending the night at school, and we all get to sleep in rooms... I did ask Jean to arrange that the two of us get a room alone."

Levi let out a soft breath and ghosted his lips over Eren's. "I do love a man that can make a plan." Eren chuckled softly and Levi shut him up by kissing him. Eren had his legs bent underwater to be at Levi's height and could therefore easily pull Levi into his lap. Levi's legs drifted up to lock around Eren's hips while Eren slid his tongue past Levi's already parted lips.

Someone splashed them and Eren just turned them so that his back was to the splash and cupped Levi's cheek to deepen the kiss. "You two can't start having your own party!" someone, probably Gecko, called and it made the rest of the group take notice of them. The three other boys started splashing them as well and they gave up kissing to try and splash them all back. It lead to a fun game of trying to get each other other under the water, but afterwards they were all tired out.

"There are two showers, so we all have to take turns." Jean explained. "I call first!" Connie said. "I dibs the other one!" Gecko said right after. "I'm second!" Jake announced before following Gecko. Jean looked at his two remaining friends. "You two can go after Connie, I'll shower after Gecko." Eren nodded before they also left to get their shower supplies.

By the time Eren and Jean emerged out of their respective showers, everyone else was draped out over the living room sofas and watching a movie. Eren looked around. "Where's Levi?" 

"He said he wanted to get into bed." Connie answered. " Okay, well then I am going to join him. It is already pretty late." Jean put his hand on Eren's shoulder. "Half past tomorrow is late for you?" He teased. Eren laughed before saying goodnight to everyone.

Eren walked up to the room he was sharing with Levi and was a little surprised to find the light on. "Took you long enough," Levi said with a light, teasing tone. He was busy taking the last of their bags and clothes off of the bed. "Were you waiting for me before going to bed?" 

Levi smiled at him and climbed onto the foot of the bed. He crossed his legs. "I was waiting for you, but not so that we could go to sleep. After all, there was... one more thing you wanted to do?" Eren smiled a bit. "Yeah, that would... It would be pretty cool." Levi smiled more and held his hand out for Eren. "Do you know how this works?" Levi asked. "The basics, I suppose?" Levi nodded and pulled Eren closer once he took his hand. "Then why don't you show me what you think we should do first."

Eren moved closer and leaned onto the bed with his arms to kiss Levi. Levi closed his eyes and slid a hand into Eren's hair as he kissed back. When the kiss gradually deepened, Levi leaned back on the bed and Eren followed.

However, being at the foot of the bed wasn't the most comfortable, so Eren had to pull back from the kiss so that they could scoot higher up on the bed. Levi tried kissing him again once they were in position, but Eren stopped him for now. "Can that door be locked?" Eren sat up and so did Levi. "I didn't see a key in the room." Eren looked between Levi and the door. "Hold on."

He climbed off of the bed and tried looking for a solution. He could move something in front of the door, but the small bedside table would do little to stop someone from entering and the cabinet in the room was too far from the door to be moved now.

"Let's just hope this works..." Eren said almost to himself while picking up his dirty shirt and half jamming it under the door. He tried opening the door and The shirt, together with the friction from the carpet, really made it difficult to open the door more than a sliver. It would have to do. Eren closed the door again and pushed the shirt against it again before turning back to Levi.

"Better?" he asked and Eren nodded. He took a deep breath before climbing onto the bed with Levi again. "Yeah," Eren settled in over Levi again, with his elbows supporting him on the bed and his one leg between Levi's when he paused again. "Wait, I need to get something." 

Levi frowned and watched as Eren climbed off of the bed and started looking through the pile of bags Levi had made. He wasn't going to question it, so Levi waited in silence until Eren came back with two items in hand. "We might, I don't know, but we're probably going to need this?" He carefully placed two condoms on the bed with a packet of lube.

"And this, actually." Eren picked up Levi's towel and dropped it onto the bed. "It'll make things easier?" Levi smiled, because Eren was being too sweet. "Yeah, it will. But then we need to get naked first."

"Oh... uh, well, yeah." Eren laughed a small awkward laugh before climbing back onto the bed. "Do we have everything now?" Levi asked while looping his arms around Eren's neck. He nodded and dipped down to capture Levi's lips in a kiss. Levi closed his eyes and kissed Eren back. Eren gradually deepened the kiss as he got more into it. He slid a hand up Levi's side, under his shirt, pressed the leg between Levi's leg up a bit and Levi pressed back on it. Levi tugged at Eren's shirt until it came off and then touched the bare skin.

"I'm starting to get the hang of it," Eren breathed against Levi's neck as he kissed there and Levi let out a soft, agreeing moan. He moved his hips against Eren's knee and let out quiet sighs. Eren's hands were warm and all over him and it felt just the way it should.

Levi pushed the envelope more by messing with the button of Eren's pants. When he popped the button, Eren moved a bit to get his pants off. He then looked down at Levi, truly took in every part of him, and then slowly pulled Levi's pants off. 

He wasn't even naked yet, but Levi felt like shivering under Eren's eyes. He wanted to know how he would look at him if he was naked, so he hooked his thumbs in his underwear, looked up at Eren, and slowly pushed his underwear down. Once they were as far as Levi could reach, Eren took over and slid Levi's underwear off the rest of the way. He didn't look away, but he didn't stare either - he just appreciated the picture of Levi as a whole.

Eren moved his hands to his own underwear, but paused. Levi reached out to rub over his forearms, hoping it would make Eren more comfortable. "Do we have to... do it like this?" Levi shook his head. "We can do it however you want to." Eren's hands went back to Levi. "Do you mind if we do this part first?" 

Levi wasn't sure what Eren was referring to, but he still shook his head. He wanted to do this the way Eren wanted to. "Go ahead." Eren gave a small nod and sat up. He picked up the packet of lube and fumbled a bit with it. Levi would tell him not to be nervous, but he knew that with Eren, that would only make him more nervous.

"You still want to do this?" Eren asked once he got the packet open. Levi nodded. To be honest, he more than wanted it. It has been just about a year since he had slept with anyone and after that, things hadn't been too active with Eren. He wasn't complaining, but it felt like it was about time.

Levi positioned his legs in an open form around Eren's hips and waited for him while he dipped his fingers in the lube. Eren looked at him with a faint blush. "What's wrong?" Eren looked between Levi's legs before looking up at him. "Where do I, uhm, go?" Levi looked at him. "There's kind of only one place you can go."

"Yeah, but I can't... see it." Levi pressed his lips together. "Do you want to see it?" Eren did an awkward shrug thing. "I kind of need to?" Levi nodded and sat up. "And this won't be awkward?" Levi didn't wait to see Eren shake his head before turning around and bending over for him. 

Eren took a deep, and a little shaky, breath when he got to see Levi in such an intimate way. He moved slowly to touch his entrance, listened to him gasp, watched it react as he circled the ring of Levi's entrance. Ever so slowly, Eren started pushing his finger in. He started pumping his finger when he had pushed in to the second knuckle.

He did so until Levi moaned softly and then started pushing in a second finger. They went in surprisingly smooth and Eren could soon pump them as well. He slowly pushed them in all the way and watched Levi lay down on the bed with his chest, pushing his ass out more. Eren put his free hand on Levi's hip and rubbed it as he pumped his fingers. Levi bit his lip and moved a bit to encourage Eren, curling his toes when Eren curled his fingers. "Oh god..." 

Eren looked at him to make sure he was okay, that he wasn't hurting him before he asked if he should add another finger. Levi nodded and reached back to spread his cheeks for Eren. The brunet removed his hand from Levi's hip and reached down to rub himself through his underwear. He watched Levi push back on his fingers, imagined him pushing back on him, and then he curled his fingers a few times until he got to see Levi squirm.

He tried remembering the direction he was curling his fingers in, wanting to make sure that he would be able to find it again later.

"Haah..." Levi looked back at him after he removed his fingers. "Do you want to do it like this?" Eren considered it and then shook his head. "Can we..." He couldn't find the words for a moment. "I want to do it under the sheets if you're okay with that, I just... I don't know, but that's how I want to do it."

Levi carefully turned himself around to look up at Eren. He slid his hand into his hair and pulled him down for a brief, loving kiss. "However you want to do it, is okay. If you want to get in under the sheets, that's how we'll do it."

Eren smiled a small, relieved smile. "Thank you." Levi smiled as well. "Of course." They both shuffled to get in under the bed sheets. Eren grabbed the condoms before doing so. "Here," he awkwardly handed Levi one of the condoms. "For you," he said, feeling he had the need to explain it to Levi. 

Levi nodded and took the packet. He opened it when Eren opened the one in his hands, and kept his eyes above the covers while he put it on. He could feel Eren shuffling around while he took his underwear off. To get the mood back, Levi hugged himself close to Eren. he pressed himself against him and closed his eyes. Eren hummed softly and hugged Levi's hips against him.

"You're so... soft." Eren breathed out and Levi let out a warm sigh. "I love it when you hold me." Eren rubbed his hands up Levi's back. They could both feel the slight wetness of the other's condom pressed against them. "I want to do this while holding you," Eren said. Levi let out a soft chuckle. "How are we supposed to do that?" 

Eren rubbed up and down Levi's thigh. "Uhm, maybe if you turn around?" Levi shook his head. "I want to be able to kiss you. I have another idea." He pressed a kiss to Eren's cheek. "Get on me." Eren nodded and rolled them over so that he was on top and supported himself on his elbows again. 

Levi spread his legs around Eren's hips and reached down to carefully touch Eren's shaft. "Maybe we could do it like this?" He asked while giving Eren a few light strokes. Eren nodded and Levi took his hand away. Eren leaned in and kissed Levi in a loving way while gathering himself.

When he felt ready, he guided his shaft in between Levi's cheeks and pressed the head against him until he could find his entrance. He slowly started pushing in, and other than a small sound when Eren started pushing in and breathing faster, Levi didn't seem to be hurt or opposed to it.

"A-Ah, okay..." Eren stopped his slow push deeper to look at Levi with a small frown. "What's wrong?" Levi panted softly and looked up at Eren with slightly teary eyes. "That's - I think that's as far as I can take it..." Eren looked even more worried. "Do you want to stop?" Levi closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, I want you to start moving..." 

Eren dropped his forehead onto Levi's shoulder and let out a sigh. He wasn't all the way in and wished he could be, because he wanted to feel the same tight heat around the last remaining inch of his shaft,  but he was perfectly happy with taking whatever he could get.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Eren panted out while slowly pulling back and pushing in again. "So okay..." Levi answered. Eren nodded and hugged his arms around Levi before he started trying to find a comfortable way to move. Levi positioned his legs around Eren to spread himself more.

With each push in, Eren pushed the limit, and Levi wanted him to. He wanted to be able to take all of him even though it felt like he couldn't at the moment. "Eren..." The brunet positioned his own legs so that he could move easier. "Oh god, that's it, babe..." Eren let out a breathy chuckle. "You've never called me babe before."

Levi smiled a bit. "I might be calling it out if you just - yes, yes, that..." Levi dug his fingers into Eren's back and tried not to moan. "Oh my god, babe, oh my god." He bit his lip and tried moving back against Eren's movement. He let out a shout when Eren gave a hard thrust and hugged his arms around Eren.

Eren gasped and panted while looking at Levi. "I'm sorry, oh my god, are you okay?" Levi nodded and squeezed around Eren's full shaft that was now in him. "Fuck, don't stop," Eren nodded quickly and continued moving. He gave longer, deeper thrusts and Levi could barely breathe normally. He had to press his face to Eren's shoulder to keep from shouting out again.

"You feel really good, Levi... Really, really good.." Levi just kept moaning while Eren sped up his movements. Levi bucked his hips back onto Eren's. "I-I'm going to come, Eren~" Eren nodded and gave a last few thrusts. They were both sweaty and their skin was sliding over each other, but they were both also panting and moaning and feeling so good that they released around the same time.

Eren dropped on top of Levi when they were done, but Levi groaned, so he rolled off of them. He hugged the blanked around them and pulled Levi to his chest. They used a few moments to catch their breaths and kiss a bit before they used the towel to clean up. 

Condoms and other suspicious objects thrown away, they finally settled in for the night. "Levi," Eren whispered. "Yeah?" he answered. "Thank you for today." Levi smiled. "It's my pleasure." They were quiet for a moment. "Levi?" He smiled. "Yeah?" Eren paused for a second. "I love you." The smile on Levi's face would have melted Eren's heart if he could have seen it in the dark. "I love you too."

The next morning, Jean's mom woke him up so that he could wake up all of his friends. He went to Eren and Levi's room last and knocked a few times without getting an answer. "Guys, wake up. My mom is making breakfast." He tried opening the door and had to give a few forceful pushes to open it enough to go in. 

Eren suddenly sat up and looked at Jean with a tired and confused expression. "I didn't mean to scare you." Eren cleared his throat and rubbed at his eye. "What's up?" 

"Breakfast." Jean looked around the room a bit. He looked at Levi, who was still sleeping under Eren's arm. "Yeah... We just need a minute." Jean looked back up at Eren. "Did something happen between you two?"

The way Eren smiled gave it all away. Jean chuckled softly. "Okay, I'll give you two a minute. But I won't promise there will be any bacon left if you're late." Jean closed the door and smiled. For the first time, Jean felt that Levi was happy in the relationship he was in. 


End file.
